eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎06-29-2016

Hello everyone,

Welcome to our weekly chat. The thread will remain open for the next 24 hours or so, 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:

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!

block36 · ‎06-29-2016

Hello, Raphael,

The part of today's announcement states that eBay will ensure that sellers are not penalized for the delayed arrival of shipments originating or terminating Canada.

it is very nice and comforting.

The question is: will system know to behave accordingly or we will need to go through great pleasure to contact CSRs for each case of such a nature?

musicyouneed · ‎06-29-2016

Hi Raphael, I am using this time to update some of my listings. Is there a limit to how many can be in drafts? There would be about 2,000 and I don't want to go through all the time to update them if I cannot put them into drafts.

ight.coin · ‎06-29-2016

Is no information being provided to US buyers for Canadian seller items listed on ebay.ca? There is no mention of any communication to potential US buyers, before, during or after their purchase. (Probably 80-90% of many Canadian sellers sales)

From you FAQ page.

The eBay.ca homepage will feature a banner for all traffic. What if the buyer is on .com .co.uk etc?

Canadian traffic on eBay.com will also see banner placements. What about US and international traffic?

In addition, Canadian buyers will receive an email when a strike or lockout is declared. And non-Canadian buyers?

A reminder email will also be sent to Canadian buyers who trade with Canadian sellers. How about US buyers with Canadian sellers or US sellers and Canadian buyers?

dutchman48 · ‎06-29-2016

The June 29th announcement is an absolute joke. Wishy Washy with nothing definite.

What about the questions I asked about INR and INAD cases and returns during the strike? Other people have asked as well

Does Ebay Canada not have any brains or sense of fairness when supplying information to both buyers and sellers during the stressful time coming.

Anyone that lists under these conditions and protection is asking for headaches.

No way, not a hope, and of course direct and pointed questions over the last few chats are still not answered.

Why not?

tch_ca · ‎06-29-2016

What is the policy on the removal of fraudulent users off Ebay? I had a buyer that attempted charge backs on THREE purchases. I also contacted other sellers that sold to this buyer and they had the offending party did the same. Paypal shut down the account due to fraud however the account still exists on Ebay. Is Ebay not shutting these accounts down because it want to save on not refunding fees? The account was reported twice, once by phone to an agent and once via the online mechanism. What's the point of have either?

1. What is Ebay's policy?

2. Why wasn't the offending account shut down?

esclyons · ‎06-29-2016

so once again no real answers to the important questions sellers ask.. also will there be any discount on our store fees for not being open during the strike, i refuse to have a customer pay for something and have to wait for ever?? to ship it, that is poor business 101... and how dare you recommend we stay open in the first place, like really how do you suggest we ship items, and i am not going through the trouble of a fed-ex, or courier too expensive...when ebay recommends something for me a can't help but get worried..

i.am.vivian · ‎06-29-2016

Hi!

I would like to ask a question NOT related to the Canada Post crisis. Its about DUPLICATE LISTINGS.

Let's say I have a single item to list. A purse or handbag. Using the same eBay ID, can I list it on:

eBay.ca in CAD

eBay.com in USD

eBay.co.uk in GPB

all on the same ID? If so, and I choose WORLDWIDE shipping and someone clicks on "See other items", all 3 listings will show up but there is still only 1 purse. Or should I just choose shipping to Canada only, USA only, UK only, on each site that I list the item on? That way each site only sees it once.

I have seen sellers do this. Or else they list in different languages as well but it is still just 1 item. Different sites, different languages, different currencies, but the same item. If one site has a listing for a purse in USD, another site has a handbag in GBP, another a geldborse in Euros, another a bolso, a borsa?

Isn't that DUPLICATE listings?

Or what if I list the same bag using 3 DIFFERENT eBay IDs, on the various sites and currencies? Does it matter what way its done? I've seen that done too with an obviously vintage item and obviously the same seller.

I've read the eBay policy about this but it just confused the issue for me.

Thanks,

Vivian

dutchman48 · ‎06-30-2016

The Chinese and the huge booksellers do it.

If you get caught, you might find yourself suspended or worse yet, kicked off Ebay.

You are not allowed to list the same item under multiple ID's or sites, it is a duplicate policy violation and they will hit you harder as it will be obvious it is intentional..

pierrelebel · ‎06-30-2016

"Let's say I have a single item to list. A purse or handbag. Using the same eBay ID, can I list it on:

eBay.ca in CAD

eBay.com in USD

eBay.co.uk in GPB

all on the same ID?"

OK - Let's go very very carefully here.

Yes you can do it. However, it can only be done if the item you list on eBay.ca is available to Canada only, the item you list on eBay.uk is available to the UK only and the item you list on eBay.com may be available worldwide but you must block Canada and UK as destinations.

This way, no one eBay site will show a duplication.

In my opinion, it is not worth the trouble.

pocomocomputing · ‎06-30-2016

@i.am.vivian wrote:
Hi!
I would like to ask a question NOT related to the Canada Post crisis. Its about DUPLICATE LISTINGS.

Let's say I have a single item to list. A purse or handbag. Using the same eBay ID, can I list it on:
eBay.ca in CAD
eBay.com in USD
eBay.co.uk in GPB

all on the same ID? If so, and I choose WORLDWIDE shipping and someone clicks on "See other items", all 3 listings will show up but there is still only 1 purse. Or should I just choose shipping to Canada only, USA only, UK only, on each site that I list the item on? That way each site only sees it once.

I have seen sellers do this. Or else they list in different languages as well but it is still just 1 item. Different sites, different languages, different currencies, but the same item. If one site has a listing for a purse in USD, another site has a handbag in GBP, another a geldborse in Euros, another a bolso, a borsa?

Isn't that DUPLICATE listings?

Or what if I list the same bag using 3 DIFFERENT eBay IDs, on the various sites and currencies? Does it matter what way its done? I've seen that done too with an obviously vintage item and obviously the same seller.

I've read the eBay policy about this but it just confused the issue for me.

Thanks,
Vivian

Your question has been asked a few times over the years in these forums.

You can can list on multiple eBay sites the same item as long as no one country sees the different listing at the same time as it would be a duplicate on that site.

A typical example would be to list an item on eBay.com and exclude Canada from shipping options and use eBay.com for any international shipping you might want. The list on eBay.ca with shipping only to Canada. This has been asked and answered and confirmed by eBay Canada staff a couple of times in these forums with the most recent confirmation here a year or so ago. You could also list on eBay.ca Canada and exclude the USA and have international shipping you might want. Then list on eBay.clom with no international shipping.

The above would work well with items with quantity but for a single item you run the small risk of selling it twice. When an item sells you would have to end the listing on the other site quickly to avoid selling it again. Managing many items like this would be a nightmare to keep track of in my opinion.

If the item somehow had the shipping options changed and the item was seen as a duplicate, you might get a duplicate violation. eBay seems to be quite harsh on duplicates with account suspensions and closing accounts. I would make sure that the items listing on multiple sites were different titles and photo sequence to not be a copy in case the bots see it somehow as a duplicate even if allowed.

Remember that eBay Canada staff have a poor reputation of giving correct answers in these forums so be careful. To me it makes sense as long as the listing is not seen on the same eBay site it is not a duplicate. But eBay is so complex and full of glitches and a seller can also make a mistake that I would not risk doing the method described above because an item might show as a duplicate. eBay never seems to forgive a mistake by a seller or even by a glitch so the risk is not worth it.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎06-30-2016

Hi rose-dee,

@rose-dee wrote:
I see that announcement is already up. This will be good news for those sellers who choose to remain open, albeit (as Pierre mentioned) very late.

The new announcement wasn't up yet at the time you posted this. It is now though: http://announcements.ebay.ca/2016/06/29/7806/

rose-dee wrote:
1) Will eBay still permit a buyer to open an INR or INAD claim. If so, how would refunds be handled for the latter type, considering the buyer would not be able to return the item to a Canadian seller?

Timelines for all After Sale processes will be adjusted so that buyers can't open claims for items that are still in transit or can't get shipped during a postal disruption. For returns, sellers and buyers will have to decide between themselves on how to proceed, (wait or use another carrier) and eBay CS knows about what is happening and will be able to guide those who ask for advice or escalate a case. CS teammates will be able to grant extensions as well to ensure that cases don't time out while the disruption is in effect.

rose-dee wrote:
2) Would the defect resulting from the claim itself be removed (in both cases), as well as the negative FB (if left by the buyer), particularly since an unresolved INAD claim would be directly due to the postal strike?

Any defects and negative/neutral feedback resulting from a postal disruption will be removed.

rose-dee wrote:
3) This question is on a slightly different subject, and one which will impact nearly all Canadian sellers, whether they remain open or not. It's clear that business will either grind to a halt entirely or slow down drastically during the strike for most sellers. Only buyers willing to pay high shipping costs (for courier delivery), or buyers purchasing from Canadian sellers lucky enough to have alternative access to USPS or other delivery services will be able to purchase from Canadian sellers who remain open.

So my question is this: as helpful as the announcement about removal of negative FB may be, does eBay have any plans to protect Canadian sellers' status on eBay as a result of this strike?

Specifically, will we be given a grace period equal to the length of the strike -- whatever that might end up being -- where our Global, US, and US-Plus TRS and Power Seller standings will not be affected? Since the strike is no fault of ours, can you give Canadian sellers that assurance?

Otherwise, eBay might as well say that the entire Canadian seller base is going to be downgraded. How would that help to mitigate the effects of this strike for eBay and help sellers recover their sales levels?

That's a very valid point. The challenge there for us is to figure out whether a seller falling out of TRS due to low sales volume did so specifically because of the postal disruption (sellers fall in and out of TRS based on sales volume all the time). This makes it hard to proactively protect against that specific issue, but we can adjust a seller's performance status once the disruption is over if we can see, based on trending data, that TRS status was lost because of the disruption. If that were to happen, CS would be able to help.

bunbar · ‎06-30-2016

For any Canadians living close enough to the border, and if you have more than 3 or 4 items to ship, it will be much cheaper to ship from the US as long as you;re not shipping overseas

rose-dee · ‎06-30-2016

@mjwl2006 wrote:
@rose-dee wrote:
I agree with 'weaversofspeech's thoughts, and for the same reasons. How do you entice a buyer back who has an unhappy experience with a Canadian seller during the strike, and has left negative FB, whether that FB is removed or not?

In the long run, not just for the next few weeks, how does encouraging sellers to stay open help eBay and its Canadian sellers at all (aside from some extra fee income)? Convince me of this, and I might consider staying open. This "recommendation" by eBay seems to me to be reckless and ill-conceived; one might even say a direct disservice to sellers in order to ensure eBay's cash flow continues, albeit diminished.

I suspect someone in San Jose panicked when advised the postal strike seemed likely to happen in Canada, and all they were thinking about was "how do we keep the fees flowing for the next few weeks". EBay HQ rarely seems to project their thinking beyond next month, even when it is in its own longer term interests to do so (i.e to keep buyers happy and coming back for more).
Because rose-dee, not every seller depends exclusively on Canada Post.

I'm well aware of that, but I expect the actual percentage of Canadian sellers who have viable alternatives (and at prices buyers are willing to pay), is far smaller than those who depend on CPC.

Even if eBay were willing to provide unconditional guarantees of seller protection during the strike, the issue of customer satisfaction and service remains. Even if I were able to use an alternative delivery service, unless it were competitively priced to CPC, would I want to expect my buyers to cover it? Could I ensure that they would be happy with the cost of shipping, even if they received their item(s) on a timely basis? If I am a buyer, will I reconsider what I've paid for shipping after the fact, decide to open a claim and find out I may not be able to because eBay has "adjusted" timelines for claims during the strike?

There is no possible way for eBay to indemnify buyers or sellers against these sorts of issues.

So I must I stand by my opinion that encouraging all Canadian sellers to remain open, regardless of the risks, and with vague assurances of help from eBay if problems arise, is irresponsible and a sad disservice to its sellers, many of whom (like me) have been loyal users of eBay and established spotless reputations for years.

momcqueen · ‎06-30-2016

I must respectfully disagree with you rose-dee. I see nothing 'vague' in the assurances from eBay and, from my point-of-view, I'm providing better service to potential buyers by committing to stay open than capitulating and closing.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎06-30-2016

@rose-dee wrote:

raphael@ebay.com wrote:

Updates:

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

Thank you for looking into the issue I brought up, but based on the wording above, I think you've misunderstood what the problem was that I reported.

The issue is not that combined shipping offers aren't shown (or visible to) international buyers. The issue is that for situations where a buyer intends to purchase, say 2 or 3 items and an automated shipping discount is not in place by the seller, it appears that the "Request Total from Seller" link is not available to them. They get a message saying something to the effect of: "This seller does not offer combined shipping discounts".

This is wrong. This isn't how the checkout system used to work for years. Something has been altered, and I'm not sure exactly what.

So the problem is that the "Request Total from Seller" button (which is shown on the checkout screen, before the buyer has paid) leads nowhere now, for some unknown reason. In my own case (as a buyer purchasing from a U.K. seller), and in my U.S. buyer's case (purchasing from me) the "Request Total" button led to a dead-end.

I certainly hope this isn't yet another permanent mess that's been created by eBay in the checkout system.

That one isn't from you. 🙂 This issue has been super hard to troubleshoot because it's only been seen on one account so far.

rose-dee · ‎06-30-2016

In follow-up, here is a question for Raphael, from a different perspective.

I actually am a buyer in the position of having won an auction from a U.K. seller a few days ago. The seller shipped the item promptly after my payment, but this poor seller will likely have no idea that the postal system in Canada is about to shut down.

I'm an understanding, patient buyer, and I've purchased from this seller before, so I know she is trustworthy. I wouldn't file a claim after the estimated delivery date, even if I could. But if the strike goes ahead, and drags on, some buyers in Canada may worry that their item could become lost somewhere in transit or may not have been shipped at all. So my questions for Raphael are:

1) Will Canadian buyers be permitted to open INR claims in the usual timelines?

2) If so, how is eBay planning to deal with this?

3) Does eBay plan to warn international sellers not to ship to Canada?

4) Does eBay plan to warn Canadian buyers to avoid buying from anywhere unless they are willing to pay for courier delivery and the seller provides it?

5) For items that do get through to Canada this week, how will eBay handle SNAD claims by Canadian buyers (where either international or Canadian sellers are concerned), considering that no items can be returned by Canadian buyers until the strike ends?

For some reason, I've seen very little discussion or announcement by eBay about this side of the equation.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎06-30-2016

@theodoreides wrote:

Updates:

Printer friendly Order Details page missing items - Resolved - fix rolled out or to roll out soon.

FYI: This fix has not yet been rolled out.

Not sure why you don't know the actual status...

Hi theodoreides,

I don't fix issues myself, and I'm not personally notified when code deployments happen. What I know about this one is, the code fix has been deployed, and the roll out is scheduled for the next update but I don't know when that next update is. It should be imminent though, but because these things tend to move around, I don't know the exact date/time. Thanks for understanding.

rose-dee · ‎06-30-2016

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
This issue has been super hard to troubleshoot because it's only been seen on one account so far.

What about 'pj's' post above (page 1 here) concerning all the other reports about the issue of the "Request Total from Seller" link not working? I don't understand why you are saying this has been seen on only one account. Do you mean I'm the only person who has reported it to you, or that my account is the only one eBay has found with this issue?

Clearly, since it happened to me while buying from the U.K. and happened to one of my U.S. customers while buying from me (.ca), this surely can't be isolated to only one account (mine???).

pierrelebel · ‎06-30-2016

"I was on the phone for an hour and a half with them and 4 different agents, BRUTAL!

finally got them to issue me a new code as the one I had on my store disappeared and I had to use ebay.ie to pay for my order after they had me try on a few various browsers etc.

BRTUAL experience all around. Not to mention I wont use the supplies but not letting the 105CA coupon go to waste. On a side not one of the 4 agents I talked to wanted to just issue me a new coupon in the next 24 to 48 hrs and I told him no pass me to a supervisor thanks since I was on the phone for a hour at that point"

======================================================

"I called them...solution...go to the eBay Australia site, use the coupon and make the $0.00 paypal pament!"

======================================================

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Trouble-using-shipping-coupon/m-p/342124#U342124

Raphael - do your customer service representatives know about Canada and Canadians?

Is that the type of service we deserve?

raphael@ebay.com · ‎06-30-2016

@rose-dee wrote:

I agree with 'weaversofspeech's thoughts, and for the same reasons. How do you entice a buyer back who has an unhappy experience with a Canadian seller during the strike, and has left negative FB, whether that FB is removed or not?

In the long run, not just for the next few weeks, how does encouraging sellers to stay open help eBay and its Canadian sellers at all (aside from some extra fee income)? Convince me of this, and I might consider staying open. This "recommendation" by eBay seems to me to be reckless and ill-conceived; one might even say a direct disservice to sellers in order to ensure eBay's cash flow continues, albeit diminished.

I suspect someone in San Jose panicked when advised the postal strike seemed likely to happen in Canada, and all they were thinking about was "how do we keep the fees flowing for the next few weeks". EBay HQ rarely seems to project their thinking beyond next month, even when it is in its own longer term interests to do so (i.e to keep buyers happy and coming back for more).

Basically, the communications we are putting forth to ensure buyers know what is going on will duly manage buyers' expectations. Most know what a postal strike or lock-out means and know that it isn't a seller's fault.