eBay

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-11-2015

Hello everyone,

Welcome to our weekly chat. The thread will remain open for most of the day this week.

Here are the issues I am currently tracking:

UPC codes suddenly not recognized on live listings (mjwl2006)

And the issues for which I have had news:

SYI form stripping weight value when switching currency - The team is working to figure out a solution to this.
Full shipping FVF charged on combined orders with discounted shipping (dutchman48) - The billing team is investigating on this.
SYI preventing relist and Sell Similar if the original listing had a non compliant photo (pierrelebel) - problem has been identified and work has begun.

Lastly, the eBay Canada office observed a moment of silence this morning at the 11th hour. We are thankful to our fallen soldiers for the liberty and freedom we all enjoy today. Lest we forget.

pierrelebel · ‎11-11-2015

This thread http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Share-Your-Shipping-Labels-User-Stories/m-p/311730#U31173...

has been anchored on top of Seller Central since August.

It may be time to un-anchor it (is that a word)?)

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-11-2015

@007steveb16 wrote:
Removing the brackets fixed it immediately. Hope that helps with the report.

Very odd as every ad I post has brackets around that section. Never had this happen on any other item.

The system must have picked up a string of characters that looked a bit like code and flagged it. It happens from time to time and it's sometimes very hard to figure out.

Happy you were able to list!

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-11-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:

This thread http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Share-Your-Shipping-Labels-User-Stories/m-p/311730#U31173...

has been anchored on top of Seller Central since August.

It may be time to un-anchor it (is that a word)?)

I would say de-anchor, but I'm just a Frenchie so what do I know?

This thread still gets a bit of activity and Canada Post is reading so I think we'll leave it up for a bit.

dutchman48 · ‎11-11-2015

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@dutchman48 wrote:
Hi Raphael
I f we list on .ca in Can and .com in US under the same ID, we can not use combined shipping on one or the other as it can only be set in one currency. Is there any way Ebay will also change that issue so we can set up separate combined shipping discounts on bot sites in their own currency.
If not, it to me, would be a good indication that Ebay, in the not too distant future, will also force Canadians to list in Can $ and only be allowed to have combined discounts in Can $, and change the way we are allowed to list on .com to get double the listings, or they know they will make a lot more FVF's on shipping as will Payal on their fees.
Hi dutchman,

The reason buyers can only pay for items in one currency at a time via the shopping cart is actually a PayPal limitation. It is impossible to issue combined payments with items in multiple currencies via PayPal. Until they make that a possibility, the same will remain true on eBay, unfortunately, even if the US shopping cart was made to take items listed on any site and in any currency (like the eBay.ca shopping cart already can).

Hi Raphael

I think you misunderstood or I asked it badly so will try again.

I don't expect to be able to mix sales on .com and .ca.

What i am asking about is:

Be able to set up shipping discounts on .ca in Can $

Be able to set up shipping discounts on .com in US $.

If they buy items listed on .ca they can use the .ca shipping discounts.

If they buy on .com they can use the .com discounts.

The way it is now, you can only set up the discounts in 1 currency so no combined shipping can be set up on the other currency.

Hence why I use US currency so discounts work on both sites in US dollars.

I there any way when they force us to list in Can $ on .ca and if we list on .com in US $ that we will be able to set up separate discounts on .ca and .com in respective currencies instead of being forced to use one or the other?

pierrelebel · ‎11-11-2015

I agree with you that that employee was 100% wrong.

However, the saga continue as the seller just posted:

"I called again thinking that a different rep might help.

This time ti went right to the top.

She told me that it's clearly retaliatory FB and she has no doubt about that.

However, the only way to remove it is if the buyer actually says t's retaliatory FB.

How stupid is that?

She also again told me that I could buy from the seller and leave NFB but that the seller might me report me. (In other words, there would be no negative repercussions for doing so.)"

How many employees need to be retrained?

gemaddict · ‎11-11-2015

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@gemaddict wrote:
I have a question on the returns process. A buyer starts a return claim stating the beads he bought are too small.I go to the return center and see he has chosen Item Not as Described. First of all it is exactly as described. The size is listed in three different spots plus a conversion chart to check. The buyer just didn't realize what that size meant when he purchased I guess? His reason for return is not even a question of quality or how it looks, which are subjective and the buyer doesn't mention at all, but something that is quite provable with a simple set of calipers or ruler.

My browser locked up and when I logged back in and went back to the return process it is now on the second 'page' saying that I have accepted the return. I have not!!! Just before it locked up I had clicked on message buyer, not accept return! While I fully intend to refund this buyer I don't want to do so using this reason he has picked as it is wrong. However I am unable to backtrack.

I have messaged the buyer more then once (since Monday) and have not heard back. I am at a loss on what to do. I don't feel I deserve a defect which has already been added to my account. Not only that because it is for Item Not as Described I am required to pay return shipping.

I don't think the buyer understood/understands the issues his choice has made. In his message included with the return request he specifically says to refund him less the shipping I paid to ship it. I had even talked to him before his purchase of the beads and he seemed a decent person.

If this can't be fixed it is a very scary situation for us sellers. It means that all a buyer has to do is say the item is not as described and a seller is on the hook whether it is true or not. It means that because a buyer did not take some responsibility for reading and understanding a listing I might have to pay my with reputation, which to be honest means more to me then the money. He had plenty of time to ask anything he wished as I had a conversation with him before shipping. I have until the end of this Friday to rectify the situation. I would certainly appreciate any advice you have before I call CS, which to be honest has been less the successful in the past. Thank you.
Hi gemaddict,

Sorry that you find yourself in this situation. It sounds like the buyer may indeed have chosen the "item not as described" option in error. If that's the case the best resolution to this issue is to ask them to close the request without escalating to eBay. I understand you've been unsuccessful in reaching them yet but you still have a couple of days, I would keep trying. Once you do reach them hopefully they agree to work with you to correct this. It's probably a good idea to respond with a message on the Return case as well (if you haven't already) just so you have some activity recorded there to show you're paying attention.

If you can't reach them, the claim will expire and the buyer will be given the choice to escalate. If they do that, eBay will give you extra time to resolve. If no resolution is provided, eBay may decide to force you to take the return and pay for return shipping.

Situations like this will be greatly mitigated when the new Standards roll out in February.

Thank you for taking the time to address my questions. I intend on keeping messaging the buyer. I went back to the return case and there is no place to respond there with a message. That area was on the first page that locked up initially and I can no longer access it. It now tells me to contact the buyer to arrange return shipping, that I should reimburse the buyer for any return shipping costs. I am also required to upload proof of having reimbursed the buyer for said return shipping costs.

As I said previously I have no problem taking the beads back for any reason, I just want it to state the right one on the form.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-11-2015

Hi Raphael,

There really is a lot of confusion on the way the return system is set up from both buyers and sellers. I know that when a seller accepts a nad return from a buyer, the system tells the buyer that the seller will send them a shipping label. Some sellers simply don't want to do that and some sellers can't do it because they are in another country but either way, it is not clear to buyers what they should do if they do not receive a label. I don't know the actual wording that ebay shows the buyer at the time but I know that some of assumed that if they don't send the item right away, that they will lose the chance to do so.

It's my understanding that the only thing a buyer can do when the seller refuses to send them a label and/or pay for the shipping, the buyer needs to wait until ebay can be asked to step in but buyers don't realize that. They don't equate the stepping in with the label issue so they just get frustrated. Question (finally) When a buyer comes to the board because they don't have a label in a not as described situation and the seller is not helping them, should they be advised to wait until they can ask ebay to step in...is that correct advice?

There are many threads with situations like this on both .com and .ca but in the following two threads the buyers felt forced to buy their own label and one was under the impression based on info from ebay that they would be reimbursed later on. As I said, I don't know exactly what they read and what gave them that impression but I wanted to pass on the info. I do think that situations like this only upset buyers and I think that ebay needs to either clarify the return label situation or not make promises that are not followed through on.

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Seller-to-Refund-Return-Shipping/m-p/317911#U317911

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Question-about-returning-a-defective-item/m-p/318439#U3184...

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-11-2015

If a seller has less than 400 transactions every 3 months, will the new shipping time metric take into account transactions for a year or just for the previous 3 months? If it is for a year, how will that work in February? Sellers will be judged on transactions from mid September until the end of the January?

jt-libra · ‎11-11-2015

Hi Raphael:

As of this afternoon, the "Actions" column on my eBay Active Listings Page, my landing page, has moved from the far right of the page to the first column. There seems to be no way to move it back where it was. This has occurred on Firefox, Chrome and IE.

At first I thought it was a glitch so I shut down and reopened the browsers but it was still there ..... and I don't like it there! I'm sure I'm not the only person who has a preference as to how their landing page is set out. In one tab, I have my listings in alphabetical order; on the other, I sort them by Time Left. Now all I see is "Assign Automation Rules" or "Send to Online Auction". I find it very distracting and an inefficient use of space. For now, I've just made the column as narrow as possible.

Anyway, I did a brief search to see if I could change it and came across a thread on the U.S. boards with a number of identical complaints. For some, this started last month and, for others like myself, just today.

Was this intentional and, if so, do you know the reasoning behind it?

Thanks.

pierrelebel · ‎11-11-2015

"has moved from the far right of the page to the first column. :

Mine has moved to the left about three or four weeks ago.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-11-2015

I don't remember if you commented on this before.....A couple of sellers are saying that if .a change is made and all listings on.ca will be in Canadian dollars, the rules for us posting on the U.S. site will also change. For example...if I get 200 free listings on .ca for my store, I can do another 200 on .com. Has it ever been discussed that the rules for listing on the 2 sites will be changed in the future?

rose-dee · ‎11-11-2015

My drop-down options column has just shifted to the far left today.

I really dislike it there. Not only does it push information that is more important to me every day further to the right (some out of sight), but it's visually distracting. I'll probably also be constantly accidentally touching that down-arrow and then having to backtrack each time -- a real nuisance.

Raphael, does this have anything to do with the changes being made to design the new seller Hub? Can we expect more of the unexpected on our Seller pages from now until that feature is fully implemented?

pocomocomputing · ‎11-11-2015

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@007steveb16 wrote:
Removing the brackets fixed it immediately. Hope that helps with the report.
Very odd as every ad I post has brackets around that section. Never had this happen on any other item.
The system must have picked up a string of characters that looked a bit like code and flagged it. It happens from time to time and it's sometimes very hard to figure out.

Happy you were able to list!

If you look carefully at the listing title copied below, it does have what resembles a javascript language function that is banned for use on ebay. The javascript function is called eval () and is used to evaluate or calculate whatever is in the brackets. The function is banned because it is a calculation and not a fixed text entry so could change at any time. eBay tries to prevent listing (usually the description area) from changing dynamically because it can cause misunderstandings as to what the listing said at the time of viewing or purchase for later review with a buyer seller dispute.

eval (Microsoft Xbox 360, 2011)

Obviously the checking is wrong but all it can look for is patterns that look like banned javascript functions. It took apart the Medieval word and saw the eval followed by a ( with what looked like parameters being passed to the function followed by a closing ).

For anyone who cares (unlikely, lol, unless a geek like me) to look at the javascript function here is the reference for it

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_eval.asp

Most occurrences of this type of error is just random chance of a sequence of characters matching a banned javascript function or code sequence. Unless you know some javascript coding, the odds of finding the offending string of text that triggers an error is impossible to find. Because this was in a short title, it was easy to spot. In a 500 to 1000 character description, one would never see it, even if you know javascript.

End of geek lesson for today, lol.

Having problems trying to list this item: "History Great Battles: Medieval (Microsoft Xbox 360, 2011)"

Using eBay's catalog, UPC: 814290011017

Getting this error:

Please provide the correct information in the highlighted fields.
Descriptive Listing Title - Your listing cannot contain javascript (".cookie", "cookie(", "replace(", IFRAME, META, or includes), cookies or base href.
I haven't touched the title, it's eBay's title straight out of the catalog.

pocomocomputing · ‎11-11-2015

@rose-dee wrote:
My drop-down options column has just shifted to the far left today.

I really dislike it there. Not only does it push information that is more important to me every day further to the right (some out of sight), but it's visually distracting. I'll probably also be constantly accidentally touching that down-arrow and then having to backtrack each time -- a real nuisance.

Raphael, does this have anything to do with the changes being made to design the new seller Hub? Can we expect more of the unexpected on our Seller pages from now until that feature is fully implemented?

This is a change in the new eBay Seller Hub Beta which is based on Selling Manager. It happened on eBay.com when they implemented the hub a month ago. It must be finally creeping into the eBay.ca site now.

I posted about it in some of my posts on my experience on the new eBay Seller Hub in other topics here in these forums.

It is annoying. You can try to drag the column width to a minimal width so just the triangle for the drop down list shows. I made that change on the new eBay Seller Hub on ebay.com and it carried through to Selling Manager on ebay.ca now.

PS I Know many ebayers hate change but so far on eBay.com, the new eBay Seller hub is not too bad in my opinion. Most improvements are okay and even nice. Some are not. Takes more clicks to get things done. But the new Sell Your Item form is a one page form with no popups (ebay categories, photos,etc) are in the main page and it is a one page Lister, not two pages like today.

pocomocomputing · ‎11-11-2015

@jt-libra wrote:
Hi Raphael:

As of this afternoon, the "Actions" column on my eBay Active Listings Page, my landing page, has moved from the far right of the page to the first column. There seems to be no way to move it back where it was. This has occurred on Firefox, Chrome and IE.

At first I thought it was a glitch so I shut down and reopened the browsers but it was still there ..... and I don't like it there! I'm sure I'm not the only person who has a preference as to how their landing page is set out. In one tab, I have my listings in alphabetical order; on the other, I sort them by Time Left. Now all I see is "Assign Automation Rules" or "Send to Online Auction". I find it very distracting and an inefficient use of space. For now, I've just made the column as narrow as possible.

Anyway, I did a brief search to see if I could change it and came across a thread on the U.S. boards with a number of identical complaints. For some, this started last month and, for others like myself, just today.

Was this intentional and, if so, do you know the reasoning behind it?

Thanks.

You mean far left.

As I posted above, use your mouse to hove over the right edge of the column and drag it as narrow as possible. This will minimize the impact.

After making it so small, I kind of like it there because before it was so far right off screen, I never used the options in the drop down list. I actually use the options now.

The real issue with the Selling Manager page is that there are too many columns a seller might want to see. I would like to see the ability for a column header to wrap on two lines for long headers and or the ability to make own column labels like Qty for Quantity, Vw for # of views, Wtch for # of watchers, and so on. I have many of the columns set to a minimum with with the column title not showing anything logical to understand.

sylviebee · ‎11-11-2015

raphael@ebay.com wrote:
@pierrelebel wrote:
On a totally different subject, a Canadian seller - having received negative feedback - wrote today

"I called eBy and they won't touch it...... as expected. In the end they said that it's perfectly OK for me to buy from her and leave retaliatory NFB."

post #10; http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/A-Very-Vengeful-Seller/m-p/318522#U318522

How can an eBay employee suggest a seller could leave retaliatory feedback? Does that not go against everything eBay stands for?
Obviously the employee who said that is 100% wrong. That would imply committing a much worst policy violation, which is to say that the original seller would have to buy an item from the original buyer with the sole intent to disrupt their business. Not super sure how this is enforced today but back when I worked the CS queues in the Vancouver office between 2006 and 2008, people who did that were immediately suspended, no warning issued. Glad to read that the OP on the thread you linked to does not intend to follow that advice.

I'll see if I can track down the CS agent who said that and make sure they receive appropriate coaching.

Raphael; I agree that this should not be allowed.

However, my buyer (not this id) did precisely that and CS agreed that this was clear.

Their position was that even though what occurred was clear they would not move the NFB left for me because the seller did not precisely say that it was retaliatory FB.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-11-2015

@dutchman48 wrote:

Hi Raphael

I think you misunderstood or I asked it badly so will try again.

I don't expect to be able to mix sales on .com and .ca.

What i am asking about is:

Be able to set up shipping discounts on .ca in Can $

Be able to set up shipping discounts on .com in US $.

If they buy items listed on .ca they can use the .ca shipping discounts.

If they buy on .com they can use the .com discounts.

The way it is now, you can only set up the discounts in 1 currency so no combined shipping can be set up on the other currency.

Hence why I use US currency so discounts work on both sites in US dollars.

I there any way when they force us to list in Can $ on .ca and if we list on .com in US $ that we will be able to set up separate discounts on .ca and .com in respective currencies instead of being forced to use one or the other?

Thanks for adding details.

I'm pretty sure you can already have CAD rules on .ca and USD rules on .com. Right now since you created USD rules on .ca, you see those on .com but if that possibility was taken away you would have to set rules on either site for either currency.

raphael@ebay.com · ‎11-11-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:

I agree with you that that employee was 100% wrong.

However, the saga continue as the seller just posted:

"I called again thinking that a different rep might help.

This time ti went right to the top.

She told me that it's clearly retaliatory FB and she has no doubt about that.

However, the only way to remove it is if the buyer actually says t's retaliatory FB.

How stupid is that?

She also again told me that I could buy from the seller and leave NFB but that the seller might me report me. (In other words, there would be no negative repercussions for doing so.)"

How many employees need to be retrained?

I'll try to track those down. Sounds to me like there may be a few teammates making wrong assumptions, possibly sharing that "knowledge" between each other. I'm hoping this is somewhat isolated, as this is the first I hear of something like this time in 8+ years at eBay.

pocomocomputing · ‎11-11-2015

Here is an old issue that keeps coming up.

A seller has an auction running. The seller restricts the countries they will ship to.

A potential buyer is registered in a country that is blocked by the seller. The buyer has multiple shipping addresses in their eBay id for their friends or relatives or even a freight forwarder and changes their Primary shipping address to one that the seller ships to so they can bid. If they win, they have the item shipped to their friend/freight forwarder who will reship to them in their country

The buyer is not doing anything wrong but using a method that for most sales is fine. The seller responsibility is to the address that they shipped to in a country they ship to.

The buyer places a bid and the seller sees the bid and checks the eBay id and finds it is in a blocked country. The seller cancels the bid and blocks the bidder thinking the bidder is up to no good and blames eBay for allowing the unwelcome bidder to bid.

Why is this old problem still happening? It pops up in the forums her on a regular basis.

Or am I misunderstanding the scenario I described above?