March 13th Weekly Board Hour

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the Weekly Board Hour. Raphael (Country Product Manager), Bryan.ca (Country Product Manager) and I are here to answer your questions for the next hour. Fire away!

[raphael@ebay.com]

I  noticed when leaving feedback for an item that I was unable to change the star for  communication .  It said something to the effect like "we see now emails through messaging, so the 5 stars are automatic...similar to free shipping.

Why can this not apply to a negative?  A buyer should not be able to leave negative without contacting the seller.  Have it programmed to block the buyer from leaving negative feeback at all unless mesaages show through eBay.

Hello parent_family,

Thanks for your comment. Feedback is definitely a sensitive topic and something that is constantly being looked at. Although buyers are still allowed to leave whatever feedback rating they want even without trying to get in touch with the seller first, there are changes coming that will help mitigate such cases. Watch for the next Seller Update announcement.

[raphael@ebay.com]

When is the spring seller update coming out?

Last year it was Feb. 28 and the year previous March 11.

I assume eBay is crafting something big.

Hello minorleaguemarvels,

The Spring Seller Update is indeed just around the corner. As usual, we will create a separate discussion thread when we make the announcement.

-- Edited by raphael@ebay.com at Mar 13, 2013 1:43 PM EDT

[tobyshitzu]

.ca best match seems to be a lot  better then it was when I mentioned it 2 weeks ago, but clearly there is far less "canadian location advantage" then there was before.  Which seems odd to do that  on the heels of the huge usps postage rate increase that made so much of the USA located inventory no longer competitive here.  Also odd on the heels of using postal codes to display our cities that ebay does nothing about listing as "hong Kong Canada" that puts items listed on various country sites, that will never sell here, up front.

[pocomocomputing]

PayPal Seller Protection coverage agreement says $325 CAN transaction amount on PayPal.ca site is the break point for Delivery Confirmation versus Signature Confirmation.

However, it says equivalent funds for other sites. For example, it says $250 US, Australia $350 AUD, and so on.

What amount is covered by PayPal.ca users?

Example.

1) If I list an item that is $300 CAN and it sells to a Canadian buyer with a Canadian address, then I need only Delivery Confirmation. If I sell for $400, then I need Signature Confirmation. This is an easy example since all is in CAN $$ and the $325 CAN break point is clear.

2) If I list an item that is $300 CAN and it sells to a USA buyer with an USA address, then which amount applies?  $325 CAN or $250 US.

3) If I list an item that is $340 CAN = $321 AUS (rate today) and it sells to an Australian buyer with an Australian address, then which amount applies?  $325 CAN or $350 AUS.

4) If I list on eBay.ca in US $$, what amount is used? $250 USD because I listed in USD or $325 CAN converted to $315 USA today?

Is the PayPal Seller Protection amount based on the Seller’s PayPal site or the buyer’s location?

Here is a link to the PayPal.ca user agreement

https://cms.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_...

Please note that I find the wording in the following line not to make much sense

Signature Confirmation as described below if the full amount of the payment, including shipping and taxes, is $325 CAD, or its foreign currency equivalent provided below:

it should read $325 CAD and over.

[pjcdn2005]

Thank pjcdn2005,

I personally came across this very same concern the other day, actually. Messaging is available (though limited on the Search Results Page) on .com only right now. I'd guess that because this is currently only a US program, hence having more visibility on .com, but still waiting for confirmation.

Hi Kalvin, I see that the program is available on the UK site even though it is just a U.S. program. I realize they have a larger population than Canada but because of our proximity to the U.S. many Canadians buy from the U.S.

I'm sorry but it makes no sense to me to ignore the people who are doing the importing. This affects Canadian sellers as well as buyers get upset and turned off ebay when they suddenly have to pay import charges...especially considering it is quite possible they would have not had to pay those charges in the seller shipped directly to them through USPS.

[pjcdn2005]

I'm on a roll here lol

One more comment question about the global shipping program.

I haven't used it and it's unlikely that I ever will but I have heard from others that the buyers don't see any sort of breakdown of where the money is going. So they don't know if Pitney Bowes is taking 10% of the amount they paid or 90%. Should there not be a breakdown of taxes, duty, shipping and brokerage fees?

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi Kalvin, I see that the program is available on the UK site even though it is just a U.S. program. I realize they have a larger population than Canada but because of our proximity to the U.S. many Canadians buy from the U.S.

I'm sorry but it makes no sense to me to ignore the people who are doing the importing. This affects Canadian sellers as well as buyers get upset and turned off ebay when they suddenly have to pay import charges...especially considering it is quite possible they would have not had to pay those charges in the seller shipped directly to them through USPS.

Thanks for the additional insight pjcdn2005 - was not aware of it being on .co.uk. Definite food for thought.

[raphael@ebay.com]

PayPal Seller Protection coverage agreement says $325 CAN transaction amount on PayPal.ca site is the break point for Delivery Confirmation versus Signature Confirmation.

However, it says equivalent funds for other sites. For example, it says $250 US, Australia $350 AUD, and so on.

What amount is covered by PayPal.ca users?

Example.

1) If I list an item that is $300 CAN and it sells to a Canadian buyer with a Canadian address, then I need only Delivery Confirmation. If I sell for $400, then I need Signature Confirmation. This is an easy example since all is in CAN $$ and the $325 CAN break point is clear.

2) If I list an item that is $300 CAN and it sells to a USA buyer with an USA address, then which amount applies?  $325 CAN or $250 US.

3) If I list an item that is $340 CAN = $321 AUS (rate today) and it sells to an Australian buyer with an Australian address, then which amount applies?  $325 CAN or $350 AUS.

4) If I list on eBay.ca in US $$, what amount is used? $250 USD because I listed in USD or $325 CAN converted to $315 USA today?

Is the PayPal Seller Protection amount based on the Seller’s PayPal site or the buyer’s location?

Here is a link to the PayPal.ca user agreement

https://cms.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/UserAgreement_full&locale.x=en_...

Please note that I find the wording in the following line not to make much sense

Signature Confirmation as described below if the full amount of the payment, including shipping and taxes, is $325 CAD, or its foreign currency equivalent provided below:

it should read $325 CAD and over.

Hi pocomocomputing,

This is a question for PayPal. You can reach their Customer Support here.

[bryan.ca@ebay.ca]

.ca best match seems to be a lot  better then it was when I mentioned it 2 weeks ago, but clearly there is far less "canadian location advantage" then there was before.  Which seems odd to do that  on the heels of the huge usps postage rate increase that made so much of the USA located inventory no longer competitive here.  Also odd on the heels of using postal codes to display our cities that ebay does nothing about listing as "hong Kong Canada" that puts items listed on various country sites, that will never sell here, up front.

Thanks Tobyshitzu,

I'm glad you are happy with the best results. If you have specific examples on the queries and results you are seeing that are not correct please let me know and we can review them.

[kalvin@ebay.com]

I'm on a roll here lol

One more comment question about the global shipping program.

I haven't used it and it's unlikely that I ever will but I have heard from others that the buyers don't see any sort of breakdown of where the money is going. So they don't know if Pitney Bowes is taking 10% of the amount they paid or 90%. Should there not be a breakdown of taxes, duty, shipping and brokerage fees?

Hi pjcdn2005 -

Keep them coming!

Buyers make 2 payments for items in the Global Shipping Program - one to the Seller to cover the item cost and domestic shipping costs (to compensate for getting the item from the seller to the global shipping provider). The second payment covers the import & international shipping costs, which goes to the global shipping provider.

As of now, those are the only breakdown provided. Here's more info if you're interested: http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/shipping-globally.html

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Thanks for all the questions! Looking forward to next week!