eBay

triber · ‎06-15-2015

I have several pieces of vintage china on eBay, and I just checked my "buyer requirements" this morning and found 6 buyers who tried to bid but have too many unpaid items. I guess it's worth setting that requirement, could save a lot of hassle.

drucecat · ‎06-15-2015

I'm not really sure if that's the case any longer.

And, if someone knows this for certain, I'd appreciate the input.

Since about the 1st of April, it has been impossible to place a BIN, on .com, without paying for the item immediately.

So, if you have setup the blocks for buyers with too many UIs are you in fact blocking .com buyers who would be required to pay for a BIN?

There are now only 3 ways to achieve an unpaid item on .com, I believe. They are an auction item, a best offer item and an item (s) put into the shopping cart, and then requiring, that same buyer to request a total from the seller.

Can a .com buyer still commit to buy, on a .ca item?

Surely, .ca will adopt the same policy as .com, regarding BIN, as soon as they manage to make the cart function correctly. Or, do you believe that .ca will remain the same as it is now?

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-15-2015

@drucecat wrote:
I'm not really sure if that's the case any longer.

And, if someone knows this for certain, I'd appreciate the input.

Since about the 1st of April, it has been impossible to place a BIN, on .com, without paying for the item immediately.

So, if you have setup the blocks for buyers with too many UIs are you in fact blocking .com buyers who would be required to pay for a BIN?

There are now only 3 ways to achieve an unpaid item on .com, I believe. They are an auction item, a best offer item and an item (s) put into the shopping cart, and then requiring, that same buyer to request a total from the seller.

Can a .com buyer still commit to buy, on a .ca item?

Surely, .ca will adopt the same policy as .com, regarding BIN, as soon as they manage to make the cart function correctly. Or, do you believe that .ca will remain the same as it is now?

The OP is talking auction not BIN.

A buyer only gets an unpaid item mark if they bought something and did not pay (after the 4 day or so process).

BIN with immediate payment will not have an unpaid because the sale is not made until payment is made. Attempting to buy-it-now with immediate payment and failing will not give the buyer an unpaid mark.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎06-15-2015

Oh, I totally forgot that we can check the blocked buyer activity. I just checked and it said it blocked two buyers without a Paypal account, and two buyers with too many unpaid item strikes.

The "two buyers without a Paypal account" items were sold to somebody with the same membership date AND feedback score, so I'm more than delighted to find out that these two people then proceeded to make a Paypal account to buy the items from me and I didn't lose any potential sales And either way, my items are mostly under $40, so Paypal is my preferred quick-and-hassle-free payment method. Other methods = too much extra work for me.

The too many unpaid item strikes buyers... I don't want to deal with them, period. BUT seeing how it's with the same item as the item sold to the person with feedback score 4 (new account made on the day of the sale), I have a feeling that person is the one with too many unpaid item strikes. Well, since she paid already and I mailed already, so I don't have a problem with it *shrugs*

I have only had one buyer this year that I had to file unpaid item strike, but even that one paid right after eBay sent out the notice to them. So far so good with the proper blocks in place

Since about the 1st of April, it has been impossible to place a BIN, on .com, without paying for the item immediately.

I don't think this is the case... at least not with eBay.CA. I still have a buyer last week who paid the day after the sale, and all of my items are FP right now. I don't require immediate payment on my FP since I'm fine getting paid within 7 days.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-15-2015

You're correct about .ca. Unless the seller requires immediate payment, it isn't set up that way automatically.

On .com ebay supposedly requires immediate payment on all items under a certain amount or...maybe it is over a certain amount....I can't remember right now. I believe that has been going on for quite a while now although there does seem to be some exceptions.

Some sellers on .com have said that some buyers have been able to make a purchase without paying right away so I'm not sure why that is. I know that when I've been experimenting, I am never able to purchase an item while shopping on .com unless I was willing to pay right then.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-15-2015

As far as blocking a buyer without paypal...personally, I don't recommend it because you could be blocking someone who has a paypal account but does not have it linked to the ebay paypal that they are using to buy your item. I don't require that a buyer has a paypal account and it's been years since I've been asked to accept any other form of payment so I don't see that as an issue.

drucecat · ‎06-15-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
You're correct about .ca. Unless the seller requires immediate payment, it isn't set up that way automatically.

On .com ebay supposedly requires immediate payment on all items under a certain amount or...maybe it is over a certain amount....I can't remember right now. I believe that has been going on for quite a while now although there does seem to be some exceptions.
Some sellers on .com have said that some buyers have been able to make a purchase without paying right away so I'm not sure why that is. I know that when I've been experimenting, I am never able to purchase an item while shopping on .com unless I was willing to pay right then.

Thank you and zee_chan for confirming this.

I thought that I must be going quite crazy, as I was sure that it hadn't changed on .ca.

For the past 3 months or so, I have listed all of my items on .com and I noticed that I was getting an incredible number of payments immediately following a purchase - AND - I was having to do quite a few refunds (on shipping), because buyers purchased multiple items, one right after the other.

But, just to confuse me more, a few Buyers had made multiple purchases, where an Invoice was required regarding the shipping.

My category indicated that my buyers would be about 80% male, between 18 and 30 years old, so it wasn't reasonable to believe that my buyers were not computer savy.

This came to a head about 3 weeks ago, when someone asked me about a combined shipping discount, but was unable to do it using BIN.

Eight emails later, I gave up, and asked my buyer to wait until the morning, as I would have to ask a CS rep. how to do this.

Prior to my call, I checked about 8 of my listings to confirm that I hadn't checked the Require Immediate Payment box, when I listed these items. None of the listings that I checked required IP. And, UI has been such a minor issue for me, I was certain that all (192) of my listing would not require IP.

So, I got up at 6:00 AM to get through to CS right away and I had sucess and I spoke with a knowledgeable CS rep. in the US.

To cut to the chase - As of about April 1st, in the vast majority of categories, BIN requires IP. (You are correct PJ when you stated that this is for items under a certain amount, I believe, but I have forgotten the amount).

It doesn't matter if you have checked that you do not require IP. He said that they had tried it initially in a few categories, but it was now pretty much sitewide. He told me that this was done as their work environment was horrible, with just about every second call was from an irate Seller, regarding a UI.

So, the fix, on .com

(I'll continue in a second post)

drucecat · ‎06-15-2015

So, the fix, on .com.

In order to get combined shipping, a Buyer has to enter the items into the shopping cart.

When they are finished adding items, they go to the first PayPal screen, and there they check the box; "Request Total From Seller"

Interestingly enough, a Best Offer that you have previously accepted (but has not been paid), will be added to the Invoice with the BIN items, provided that the Buyer chooses to add it to his cart. (Yes, this actually worked).

I would assume that an Auction item that has been won by the buyer could also be added by the Buyer to his cart, and it would work, similar to the Best Offer, but I can't confirm this.

So, this leads you to believe that it may be advantageous for eBay to educate the Buyers and Sellers that this is now the method that must be used.

And, it still leaves me with a number of questions that I would like to have an answer to, as indicated in my original post, please?

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-16-2015

So, if you have setup the blocks for buyers with too many UIs are you in fact blocking .com buyers who would be required to pay for a BIN?

As far as I know when you block them they are blocked whether or not the item has immediate payment required.

Can a .com buyer still commit to buy, on a .ca item?

If they are shopping on .com, they probably cannot use commit to buy. They have to purchase the item right away. That's the way that we've been told it works although as I think I said earlier, there does seem to be the odd exception. Also, the .com cart can not be used for items listed on .ca, regardless of what the rep told you.

There are now only 3 ways to achieve an unpaid item on .com, I believe. They are an auction item, a best offer item and an item (s) put into the shopping cart, and then requiring, that same buyer to request a total from the seller.

When a buyer puts an item in a shopping cart they haven't actually bought the item until they pay for it. So when they ask for an invoice, I don't know if it then becomes an actual purchase....I assumed not but I could be wrong. If it isn't an actual purchase until payment has been made, then it couldn't be an unpaid item.

Surely, .ca will adopt the same policy as .com, regarding BIN, as soon as they manage to make the cart function correctly. Or, do you believe that .ca will remain the same as it is now?

I'm not sure why the rep told you this just happened April 1 as .com started requiring immediate payment quite a while ago and so far .ca hasn't required it so I don't know if they ever will. The .ca reps have never mentioned that this is in the works although things could change. As far as them starting when the cart functions....it's working now. Based on what I've read and on experience, it seems to work quite a bit better than the .com cart.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-16-2015

So, the fix, on .com.

In order to get combined shipping, a Buyer has to enter the items into the shopping cart.

When they are finished adding items, they go to the first PayPal screen, and there they check the box; "Request Total From Seller"

If the seller already has their combined shipping rules set up and if the cart is working properly, the buyer doesn't need to ask for an invoice as the discounts will already show up in the cart.

The 'fix' that you describe is only possible if the listing was done on .com as listings originally done on other sites can not be added to the cart. The .com cart has never been able to handle listings from other sites.

drucecat · ‎06-16-2015

So, if you have set up the blocks for buyers with too many UIs are you in fact blocking .com buyers who would be required to pay for a BIN?

As far as I know when you block them they are blocked whether or not the item has immediate payment required.

Thank you very much for the effort you took to answer this.

From what you have said, I'm now going to remove my blocks entirely.

Unless I have misinterpreted what you have written, I am presently blocking bidders on an auction item and a BIN. Since the Spring updates, I have dramatically less auction items, and as I stated before, UIs have been of little consequence to me in the past.

Give or take a few Canadian Sales, (I have had 6 total out of 112 unique sales in the last 31 days). These blocks are now doing very little for me, other than costing me business.

Anyways, I hope that I'm correct. If not I'll reapply the blocks.

I'm not sure why the rep told you this just happened April 1 as .com started requiring immediate payment quite a while ago and so far .ca hasn't required it so I don't know if they ever will. The .ca reps have never mentioned that this is in the works although things could change. As far as them starting when the cart functions....it's working now. Based on what I've read and on experience, it seems to work quite a bit better than the .com cart.

What he actually said was, that on about April 1st, BIN requiring IP became pretty much sitewide. It was phased in slowly, starting only with a few categories, then others were added and so on.

Thank you;

Scott

drucecat · ‎06-16-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:

If the seller already has their combined shipping rules set up and if the cart is working properly, the buyer doesn't need to ask for an invoice as the discounts will already show up in the cart.

The 'fix' that you describe is only possible if the listing was done on .com as listings originally done on other sites can not be added to the cart. The .com cart has never been able to handle listings from other sites.

Yes, thank you, I thought of this soon after my original post, but as few members seemed interested, I decided not to post again.

When I was speaking with the CS rep, we did talk about combined shipping and the problems this had caused (loss of Commit To Buy) and he admitted it was causing them (eBay) and many others (Sellers) grief. As, I will over the course of a year have a divergent product mix, combined shipping rules are virtually impossible to do. Even weight will not work.

Great reminder on trying to mix items from cart on .ca and .com.

Thanks again;

Scott

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎06-16-2015

As far as blocking a buyer without paypal...personally, I don't recommend it because you could be blocking someone who has a paypal account but does not have it linked to the ebay paypal that they are using to buy your item. I don't require that a buyer has a paypal account and it's been years since I've been asked to accept any other form of payment so I don't see that as an issue.

But I only want to accept Paypal since it's the most hassle-free for me. I don't want to start accepting mail-in cash, money order, cheque, interac etc, and since 80% of my sale goes to international buyer anyway I'd think Paypal is also most hassle-free for them.

Anyhow, interesting read for the rest of the thread. I'll monitor my blocked bidder activity more closely from now on to determine if I should remove my blocks or keep it as is. My sales hasn't been an issue for me BUT it's also true that I never bothered checking blocked bidder activity so I can't say for sure that I'm losing business over it. I know the past 60 days I haven't, and that's about it...

Thanks for the insightful read

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-16-2015

We might be talking about two different things here.

In your listings you can set your payment preferences. The only payment method my listings mention is Paypal. Buyers don't ask or expect me to take any other form of payment although I would consider it if asked. As I said earlier though, it's been years since anyone asked.

In my site preferences I do not block buyers without a paypal account. That does not mean that I have to accept other payments.

So basically, we both have Paypal as the only payment option but if a buyer who does not have their ebay account linked to their paypal account, they can buy from me. They would be blocked from buying from you.

It's totally up to you how you set up your account so I'm not saying that you should do it the same way that I do. I'm just trying to explain the way that it works for me.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-16-2015

I have only had one buyer this year that I had to file unpaid item strike, but even that one paid right after eBay sent out the notice to them.

That's been my experience too. When I send that "need help paying' Message, about half pay promptly, so they are just slow payers who need a nudge. The others just disappear, and get their Strike.

when someone asked me about a combined shipping discount, but was unable to do it using BIN.

I don't know if it would be simpler, but I usually tell those customers to wait a few minutes while I make a Paypal Request Money invoice. This ALWAYS includes the eBay transaction numbers. Then since the invoice is starting fresh, I can adjust to my little heart's content.

Once paid, I mark the items shipped manually and leave feedback giving the tracking number if any.

But my customers are lower testosterone than your demographic, so this may not work for your fellas.

drucecat · ‎06-17-2015

@reallynicestamps wrote:

when someone asked me about a combined shipping discount, but was unable to do it using BIN.
I don't know if it would be simpler, but I usually tell those customers to wait a few minutes while I make a Paypal Request Money invoice. This ALWAYS includes the eBay transaction numbers. Then since the invoice is starting fresh, I can adjust to my little heart's content.
Once paid, I mark the items shipped manually and leave feedback giving the tracking number if any.

But my customers are lower testosterone than your demographic, so this may not work for your fellas.

This sounds like an excellent suggestion.

I believe that this solution would also allow me to do combined shipping for items that I had originally posted on .ca with items that I had originally posted on .com.

So, I wouldn't have to do a refund, thus saving the extra FVF on shipping and resulting in only one transaction fee.

I'm a little apprehensive, as I haven't done it before, but I should be able to handle it.

As for my demographic, those who communicate are just like all of us - but it's definitely a shoot first, ask questions later crowd.

pocomocomputing · ‎06-17-2015

@drucecat wrote:
@reallynicestamps wrote:

when someone asked me about a combined shipping discount, but was unable to do it using BIN.
I don't know if it would be simpler, but I usually tell those customers to wait a few minutes while I make a Paypal Request Money invoice. This ALWAYS includes the eBay transaction numbers. Then since the invoice is starting fresh, I can adjust to my little heart's content.
Once paid, I mark the items shipped manually and leave feedback giving the tracking number if any.

But my customers are lower testosterone than your demographic, so this may not work for your fellas.
This sounds like an excellent suggestion.

I believe that this solution would also allow me to do combined shipping for items that I had originally posted on .ca with items that I had originally posted on .com.

So, I wouldn't have to do a refund, thus saving the extra FVF on shipping and resulting in only one transaction fee.

I'm a little apprehensive, as I haven't done it before, but I should be able to handle it.

As for my demographic, those who communicate are just like all of us - but it's definitely a shoot first, ask questions later crowd.

Since eBay knows nothing about the PayPal Request Money and you have to manually mark the items paid and shipped in My eBay/Selling Manager, you pay full FVF on the shipping amount in the sold listings shipping options. I do not see how you get around any shipping FVF.

All I see is saving the extra PayPal 30 cent transaction fee if the buyer has paid separately for each item

Am I missing something here?

rose-dee · ‎06-17-2015

@drucecat wrote:

I believe that this solution would also allow me to do combined shipping for items that I had originally posted on .ca with items that I had originally posted on .com.

I assume from what you're saying that you're listing on both sites? If that's the case then your buyers on .com will not be able to combine items listed on .com with items listed on .ca, nor will they be able to use the .com cart to buy items listed only on .ca (unless they log onto .ca, because the Canadian cart is fully functional -- well, it has its minor glitches, but is compatible with other sites, unlike the .com cart). The .com cart is currently only functional for items listed on .com.

I've spent a lot of time experimenting, testing, asking questions and continuing to try to keep the "US cart disconnect" issue on the radar as far as the eBay staffers are concerned. However, there seems to be no interest in the subject at eBay HQ. Not only is there no ETA for a fix, apparently it isn't even on the "to do" list.

The reason -- we are told -- is that it's a Canadian concern. As long as the .com cart works for Americans they have little incentive to fix the problem for the sake of Canadian sellers -- a small group compared to the number of U.S. sellers.

Keep in mind though that many Canadian buyers will be logged onto eBay.com, not eBay.ca to purchase, so even they will have trouble trying to use the .com cart to purchase your items listed on .ca. It's a dysfunctional mess for Canadian sellers. Although one of the eBay staffers suggested listing exclusively on .com as a "workaround" -- a recommendation I find rather ironic and ludicrous -- I've decided to simply put up a notice about the .com cart dysfunction on my store header in the hope that my buyers will read it. Some may, most probably won't. So I'll likely continue to lose U.S. buyers who no doubt would rather go back to .com to buy where everything works for them.

As far as Immediate Payment Required, this has been in place for quite a long time on eBay.com (summer of 2013 if I recall), although my understanding is that it was being phased in across categories. That may account for the occasional ability of buyers to use the old "Commit to Buy" checkout stream, but apparently IPR will be site-wide on .com at some point. This doesn't mean buyers on .com can't put items in the .com cart, but they will remain available to other buyers until actually paid for.

It seems that the introduction of IPR on .com also created additional complications vis-a-vis the .com cart and listings on .ca (and possibly other international sites too) that remain to this day. Nothing has been, or likely will be, done about that either.

So, I wouldn't have to do a refund, thus saving the extra FVF on shipping and resulting in only one transaction fee.

I agree with 'poco' - I don't see that invoicing through Paypal will help avoid the FVF on shipping. It will, as 'reallynicestamps' mentioned, permit you to adjust your buyer's invoice in whatever way you like, bypassing the "cart disconnect" issues between .com and .ca.

The only problem with this otherwise very workable solution is that you have to hope your buyer will actually contact you.

This has been my main grievance with eBay over the US cart incompatibility, i.e. there is no way of knowing how many potential buyers may have tried to use the cart and given up in frustration. Nor how many have tried, failed, and will blame the Canadian cart or the Canadian seller and perhaps never come back.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-17-2015

I think that the seller would still end up paying fvf on the original shipping amounts because as you said, ebay would not know how much was actually paid. I suppose they 'might' give a credit if the seller phoned afterwards and showed them the paper trail but it would take time and I don't know if it would accomplish anything.

rose-dee · ‎06-17-2015

I wanted to add, probably more germane to the original topic, that in its zeal to try to prevent unpaid items, eBay in my opinion rushed into introducing IPR on .com without caring about the consequences for other sites (eBay.ca in particular).

On the other hand, eBay's primary focus is their U.S. base. For every U.S. buyer who gives up in frustration trying to buy from a Canadian using the .com cart, there may be a sale for a U.S. seller to whom that buyer turns instead. Why buy from a Canadian if it means any sort of hassle in checking out?

For us Canadians it is, as (P.E.) Trudeau used to say, like sleeping with an elephant.