May 8th Weekly Board Hour

[raphael@ebay.com]

Hello Canadian eBayers!

Let's take a break from the NHL playoffs and open up the floor to you all for the next hour. This week, Rodney and Kalvin are with me. Please go ahead and start posting your questions and comments, we'll start responding at the top of the hour.

Raphael

[Anonymous]

Hi pocomocomputing.

I agree, it would be better if sellers were free to burn a second free listing on the list in two categories feature.

Sometimes we need to make design compromises along the way, especially around features and use cases that are lightly travelled. I believe that's why the feature works the way it does today.

We don't have a high degree of adoption on list in two categories. The feature itself is over 12 years old, and is a fossil from a different eBay era altogether, when our taxonomy was muddier, and less exlusive at the leaf level. Doesn't have a high degree of applicability in most cases these days.

[westernstargifts]

Hi westernstargifts,

FVFs are tied to Insertion Fees, so if the listings in questions were listed before May 1st, they'll be charged the old FVF rates when they sell. Hopefully that answers your question.

Thanks,

It does.

Thanks again.

[pocomocomputing]

Hi westernstargifts,

FVFs are tied to Insertion Fees, so if the listings in questions were listed before May 1st, they'll be charged the old FVF rates when they sell. Hopefully that answers your question.

Thanks,

Kalvin, just to clarify your post for GTC listings.

Fixed Price listings using GTC that started before May 1st under the old fee structure will charge FVF under the old fee structure. When the GTC listings auto relist in May they will new charge FVF under the new fee structure.

There is no need to end GTC listings and relist them manually to go under the new fee structure. It will go under the new fee structure automatically when the GTC listing relists in may.

[i*m-still-here]

Hi pierrelebel,

The buyer actually doesn't have the choice between eBay Buyer Protection and PayPal Purchase Protection. What site they purchased the item from will determine under which program they are protected. If they bought from eBay.com, they are protected under the eBay program and if they bought from eBay.ca, they'll be under the PayPal program.

As for the logic, the PayPal program is older and not as involved as eBay's. Simply put, they are just different programs, with different mechanics and different rules.

YIKES.

Yesterday I tried to check this out but stopped short of opening a Paypal case for an item bought on .com for a US seller.

I just thought I see what happen after reading this post.....

I had no problem at all opening a Paypal case for this item.

I closed it right away.........

The seller must be having a heart attack just about now.

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Will surface shipping international be available on paypal shipping in the future?

Hi pjcdn2005,

There are no current plans - is this a service you use often?

[lecoffre]

I will send you an email ... Thank you

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Kalvin, just to clarify your post for GTC listings.

Fixed Price listings using GTC that started before May 1st under the old fee structure will charge FVF under the old fee structure. When the GTC listings auto relist in May they will new charge FVF under the new fee structure.

There is no need to end GTC listings and relist them manually to go under the new fee structure. It will go under the new fee structure automatically when the GTC listing relists in may.

Bingo! 🙂

[raphael@ebay.com]

Thank you for the reply.

"The buyer actually doesn't have the choice between eBay Buyer Protection and PayPal Purchase Protection. What site they purchased the item from will determine under which program they are protected. If they bought from eBay.com, they are protected under the eBay program"

eBay has been very vocal to sellers telling them they are getting better Seller Protection.  Great!

Why has eBay not told buyers they are in fact losing some protection? (the eBay.com seller is not required to provide signature for transactions between $250 and $750)

It cannot be one without the other.  More protection for sellers means less protection for buyers.

As I mentioned in my previous response, the PayPal program is old, it is what was in place before eBay Buyer Protection (eBP) was launched on eBay.com. Although we have been working to bring eBP to eBay.ca ever since they first launched, it's not been prioritized yet and until it is, PayPal Purchase Protection  will remain in place on eBay.ca despite the obvious gap in protection programs.

[Anonymous]

Just to confirm, it doesn't matter where buyer or seller is located or which site an item has been listed on...If an item is purchased on .com, an opened case will always go through ebay's BP. An item purchase on another site will always go through Paypal.

Correct?

Regardless of where an item was purchased, credit card chargebacks always go through Paypal if that was how an item was paid for?

[i*m-still-here]

What concerns me most about this new $750 rule is what it means for me as a buyer.

If I buy an item shipped from the US without signature confirmation but with tracking, and it gets delivered to my neighbour by mistake (happens now and then) ................. and that person decides not to keep it......

Does that mean that I will lose if I file a case for Item Not Received if I file with the case with eBay?

[Anonymous]

whops - I meant to say, yes. this is correct.

We are very keen to bring eBay Buyer Protection to Canada as soon as we can, to simplify how things work in North America for all buyers and sellers.

[lecoffre]

I just check on my second eBay account (same performance or less) and I'm able to subscribe to the ANchor ... Sorry, I don't understand

[pjcdn2005]

There has been lots of questions on the boards this week...so I have one more. 🙂

There is a lot of confusion about Canadians and TRS status on .com.  Some sellers feel that they should qualify for TRS  (not TRS plus) on .com as they meet all requirements except for the tracking requirements which Canadians are supposed to be exempt from.  Yet they say that when they look at their dashboard, they do not qualify. Is there still a category called TRS on .com? 

[raphael@ebay.com]

What concerns me most about this new $750 rule is what it means for me as a buyer.

If I buy an item shipped from the US without signature confirmation but with tracking, and it gets delivered to my neighbour by mistake (happens now and then) ................. and that person decides not to keep it......

Does that mean that I will lose if I file a case for Item Not Received if I file with the case with eBay?

Perhaps I'm not understanding your concern, if that's the case please correct me.

The $750 rule is seller facing. It means that if a seller fails to use delivery confirmation with signature when shipping an item equal or above $750 in value, they risk losing a case against a buyer complaining about not having received the item.

[pocomocomputing]

Hello Canadian eBayers!

Let's take a break from the NHL playoffs and open up the floor to you all for the next hour. This week, Rodney and Kalvin are with me. Please go ahead and start posting your questions and comments, we'll start responding at the top of the hour.

Raphael

Off topic

I am a Vancouver Canuck fan and with their 4 game sweep by the San Jose Sharks, I now have a long break from the playoffs this year. And even more depressing, the Toronto Maple Leafs are still in the playoffs! Oh, well more time for eBay now for the next two months.

[raphael@ebay.com]

I just check on my second eBay account (same performance or less) and I'm able to subscribe to the ANchor ... Sorry, I don't understand

Please check your email after this Board hour. 🙂

[vintagenorth]

I jumped right in and updated my store to yearly on May 1st, thinking that was the best thing to do. As of that day my sales have almost disappeared. Its as if somebody turned off the switch. Its happened on my store and my non-store. Last year at this time sales were great. I'm listing new items every day. Do you think this is due to the glut of listings on ebay due to the free listings and this will just take a while to level out? Or am I missing something else?

[pjcdn2005]

whops - I meant to say, yes. this is correct.

We are very keen to bring eBay Buyer Protection to Canada as soon as we can, to simplify how things work in North America for all buyers and sellers.

The last part of my post....Regardless of where an item was purchased, credit card chargebacks always go through Paypal if that was how an item was paid for?

Is that correct too?

I suppose it wouldn't matter if there was signature confirmation in that case since a chargeback just requires proof of shipping..

[pjcdn2005]

Hi pjcdn2005,

There are no current plans - is this a service you use often?

No. But I was under the impression that it was a choice on Paypal before as I know that other ebayers have used that service.. Perhaps I'm mistaken.

[Anonymous]

There has been lots of questions on the boards this week...so I have one more. 🙂

There is a lot of confusion about Canadians and TRS status on .com.  Some sellers feel that they should qualify for TRS  (not TRS plus) on .com as they meet all requirements except for the tracking requirements which Canadians are supposed to be exempt from.  Yet they say that when they look at their dashboard, they do not qualify. Is there still a category called TRS on .com? 

Hi pjcdn2005.

For Canadian sellers who meet all US eTRS qualifications except uploading of tracking, here's what happens:

1. You get a boost in Best Match. Not as large a boost as a US eTRS seller who meet all qualifications, but a better boost than not being eTRS at all.

2. You get a Final Value Fee discount on all sold listings, so long as they were listed on eBay.com or eBay.ca (in the English eBay.ca listing flow or the French eBay.ca listing flow ). 

3. You do not get a Top Rated Seller badge on your listings on eBay.com.

Item 3 is the source of confusion, because we originally announced that Canadians WOULD get the badge. Later, it was decided that this could be potentially confusing to US buyers (and other sellers) on eBay.com, and the decision was reversed.