eBay Bugs & Issues Thread

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi Everyone,

We are starting a new thread here for you to post your concerns when you encounter an eBay issue or bug and have un-tacked the previous thread that has been around since the beginning of 2008.

Here are some important things to point out:

1. This is not eBay Customer Support. All bugs and site issues should be reported to CS to ensure that they are escalated & tracked. You can report issues to CS using Contact Us. Enter a brief description of the issue you are encountering into the search box and select the most appropriate topic(s).

2. We would like to keep this thread as organized and purpose-driven as possible. If you don't have a bug or site issue to discuss, please consider posting to a different board/thread.

3. Provide as much detail as possible when describing your Issue.

Thanks -

Kalvin

[pocomocomputing]

Shipping

7) The eBay Sell Your Item form does a poor job of checking the dimensions when input to know if they are appropriate for the shipping class used. I will give an example. If I enter a dimensions of 20 x 15 x 10 CM, it is accepted for any class except 2 cm thick Light Packet. No problem, the listing is made and the listing works. If I used Small Packet as the shipping option, the eBay shipping calculator works. If I used Expedited Parcel USA, the eBay shipping Calculator does not work and gives some message that shipping cannot be calculated and to contact the seller. Many Canadian users blamed eBay shipping calculator as being buggy in the forums. I found out from eBay CS (once they had the answer!) that the dimensions are wrong. For Expedited Parcel, the minimum for Canada is 10 x 7 x 0.1 CM but the USA minimum is 21 x 14 x 0.5 CM. So this is why by 20x15x10 failed. Never in a hundred years would anyone figure this out from the error message when using the calculator. I was lucky to get the one CS who knew. I have posted this issue in these forums a few times as some Canadian ebayers mentioned this problem. I saw many times that the ebay shipping calculator is bad but it was this bug. PS I am trying to remember if it give the same message for Light Packet thickness of 2 cm. I can't remember.

Just to clarify this point a bit. For Canada Post Expedited Parcel Shipping using the eBay shipping calculator. The example I gave of 20x15x10 CM works for Canada because of the very small size minimum 10x7x0.1 CM. It does not work for USA because of the 21x14x0.5 CM minimum. So ebay users would test and Canada would work but not the USA. So they wrongly concluded that the eBay shipping calculator was broken.

[surplusdealdude]

I also wanted to mention that sellers should continue to use the ‘Make my fixed price listings unavailable’ along with ‘Display a vacation message in all available listings’ until this functionality is available.

Yeah, I tried that - it doesn't work, either. Buyers can still get through.

[pjcdn2005]

It does not work for USA because of the 21x14x0.5 CM minimum

Your example would work with small packet ...but not expedited U.S.
I think you mentioned the difference earlier but thought I would mention it again just in case there was some confusion.

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi Poco

That link on the directory has now been deleted. We wanted to just get it out of there quickly and I'm now working on cleaning up the rest of the page to get rid of dead links, etc... Thanks again for your help on that.

To comment on your CS observations, I definitely know what you mean and agree that CS is a hard job. I started with eBay 10 years ago as part of the CS organization so I'm intimately familiar with the challenges that it can present. On the flipside, it can be extremely rewarding when you get it right. Especially in the context of eBay where many people have been empowered to make their living by selling on the site, even the smallest problems can throw a major wrench in their system, and there are so many stories of those times when we just got it right. It's such a rewarding feeling.

Thanks again for sharing your insight.

~K

[pocomocomputing]

Shipping - continued

9) eBay Canada/Canada Post flat rate box

To the best of my knowledge from personal experience and from all that I have read about this service in eBay Canada forums, this service is simply not an economical service to use.

- box shape is poor, nothing fits inside
- for light items under 1 kg, it is always cheaper to use Expedited within Canada and Small Packet Air to the USA.
- only can use when weight is close to the 5 kg limit then it is cheaper than Expedited and only if you ship to the other end of the country
- when you can stuff it with 5 kgm, the box physically crushes and breaks if dropped from a height of 3-4 feet drop test. I have to put a roll of tape around the box to add strength.
- the boxes cost too much $5.95 for 3 (roughly 2.25 each after taxes in BC)
- the highly colored box is so visible that is a "Steal Me" magnet

When I started on eBay in Jan 2010, I got these eBay flat rate boxes, 9 of them, I still have 5 of them. I cannot ever use them as they are not less expensive than other options (especially if you add the cost of the box). I thought these were a deal and used them early on only to find out I was gouging my customers on shipping when I used them.

So this great idea of a service is wasted.

Since eBay participated with Canada Post to create this service, how could you not realize that it is useless?

Unless I missed something about eBay flat rate boxes, I can't use it except in very rare circumstances and even then the savings is low.

PS

Get a similar flat rate box service for within Canada only that mimics Small Parcel Air service to the USA. Take the existing flat rate tiered service and cut the prices in half and limit the weight to 1 kg (even 0.5 kg) and that would be a great service.

[pocomocomputing]

Shipping - continued

10) Shipping DSR's

How can buyers who for the most part know nothing about the shipping costs, the different ways to ship and delivery times be allowed to rate sellers on this?

I am very careful when selling an item to make sure I offer the lowest cost shipping possible. I know my shipping service options, I know my price breaks on shipping weights, and I know the different types of packing material to use to keep weight down.

I am a small seller and recycle shipping boxes and packaging. I am very careful on my shipping weight since it is the biggest factor in cost at the low end of shipping. I am selling items under 500 grams for the most part.

Trying to get into a 100-gram class for Lettermail or Light Packet, or the 250-gram class. Getting under the 250-gram class for Small Packet or the 250-gram class. I know that a PayPal label on a box and a packing slip in the box cost me 8-10 grams; packing tape on a box costs me 1-2 grams.

I know which materials to use that are light when I am close to the weight breaks, and am smart enough to use the heavier materials for items that are not close to the weight limit. I try to save light materials and light boxes for the critical items close to the weight breaks. I optimize all the factors and then use the least expensive shipping option in my listing to have the least possible cost to the buyer. All my items for sale have the shipping carefully thought out to minimize the cost and attract potential buyers. I do not add any shipping and handling charges.

I had to learn all this about shipping and now can do this all quickly without much thought.

But for all this effort, I get dinged with 4's in shipping DSR’s once in a while. All this by someone who does not have a clue what shipping is about.

PS

I do know that eBay is very aware of shipping DSR’s and that the next Seller Update is going to try and resolve some of these issues. I am just adding this well know gripe to the list of shipping issues for completeness.

Personally, I think buyers cannot be allowed to rate shipping if they have no idea of the costs and shipping options available and how shipping works. The classic example is an item where shipping is 2-3-4 times the value of the item no matter what shipping service and class that you can use for this item shape and weight. The buyer reaction is “What $5 for the item and $9 to ship? What a rip-off!” And poof, there goes the DSR’s.

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi Surplus-

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't realize that you meant the off-eBay PayPal protection. I have to admit to very little knowledge of the program given that our focus here is the eBay Marketplace.

As for having a contact, I pretty much have access to my email from any location. I won't always be able to get to it immediately, but it's an avenue for you nonetheless.

~K

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hi Again Poco-

Thanks for the additional comments on Shipping. I've passed them on to our Shipping manager.

As for the DSR issue, we are definitely aware of the challenges in shipping for CA sellers. That said, the reason buyers are allowed (and asked) to rate sellers, even if they don't understand some of the finer points of selecting shipping service, pricing, etc... is because they are the consumer and it's a safeguard against using shipping to gouge the buyer. Additionally, shipping is part of doing business on eBay and sellers are held accountable for that.

One suggestion I would make to you is that instead of looking at it from the perspective of carefully computing the shipping cost and charging exactly that to the buyer, try looking at a system that charges a low/free shipping cost and build at least a portion of it into your item price.

There are a number of different strategies, of course, and you need to do what is right for your business, but don't be afraid to experiment in order to find exactly what "right" is for you.

~K

[kalvin@ebay.com]

Hello,

What Cheryl over on the US boards said is true. At this point I also think it affects only sellers with a Stores subscription.

~K

[pocomocomputing]

K

I tried free shipping but I don't think I ever made a sale with free shipping. I read so many forum complaints about Shipping DSR's going down when they tried it that I got scared off. I prefer the more visible shipping cost.

As many sellers said in the ebay.com forums, there should be no DSR ratings allowed for free shipping since it is free and not possible to evaluate the cost as far as the buyer is concerned. Simple logic.

It was postulated in the forums that since it was free, many buyers couldn't rate it so they gave out 1's or 3's. Upon hearing that, I avoid free shipping. Since a couple of 1's can be deadly to a small seller, I do not offer it.

[pierrelebel]

I do offer free shipping to Canada and USA for all items priced above $25 and combined purchases exceeding $25.

I have received only one low DSR in the last three month (shipping cost) - from an American buyer who had received free shipping!

As I stated so many times over the years, if eBay wants to continue with DSRs, eBay should stop all their nonsense with continual meaningless policy and application changes and concentrate on buyer education for a while.

[surplusdealdude]

Another bug,

Reported here;

http://forums.ebay.ca/topic/Canadian-Powersellers-Discussion/When-Paying-Ebay/600036443&#msg600706433

And I quote,

When trying to pay eBay fees via the "one-time-payment" link on eBay's "Account page, we now get this message:

You have requested an outdated version of PayPal. This error often results from the use of bookmarks.

This is not encouraging....

[pocomocomputing]

Gallery Image bug

The gallery image in ebay when using View Listing for example under the ebay ID here in these forums does not get generated sometimes. I read about this issue a month or so back and checked my listings to find that I was missing 2 or 3. I read about the ebay tool for fixing missing gallery images and used it to fix mine. I bookmarked the tool.

I was reading the eBay forums today where someone had the issue so I posted the ebay help link for refreshing the gallery picture. I decide to check my own listings again and was amazed to find 12 recent (July 3 and on) listings missing gallery pictures. I fixed them all and the ebay tool confirmed that these listings were missing gallery pictures.

I spot-checked Pierre's listings and saw no missing gallery pictures and I checked a couple of other IDs but found none.

I use use Selling Manager Pro using the SYI form to upload my pictures from my hard drive. Pictures are 1000 pixels on the longest side or better. Pictures are from my digital camera (newer, 8 mp camera) with a few from a flatbed scanner.

What is the status on this bug? Any idea why I was hit with so many?

PS Pierre, you have so many listings. Are you aware of this issue and has it affected you? Just curious since you have such a large amount of listings.

PS I am sorry to say that I fixed all my listings otherwise I would have left an sample listing.

PS The tool is here for anyone reading this and wondering where it is.

Changing your Gallery picture

This will give you a little background on the gallery picture. At the bottom is Resubmitting your existing picture, so click on that to an eBay web page to fix your problem.

[pierrelebel]

Here is a major technical issue that affects many large sellers.

When purchasing postage through PayPal, GST and/or HST is charged by PayPal and debited to the seller's account without any information about the amount of GST/HST paid.

How can sellers recover the tax paid (through ITC) if PayPal does not provide the information?

[surplusdealdude]

Kalvin,

I don't think you guys in administration really "get" how serious the cumulative effect of all of these bugs are, frankly.

You pass them off as "report them to CS" and assume they'll get fixed. They don't.

ebay management is trying to effect a major turnaround of the site and they need the co-operation of the sellers for this. The sellers are not employees - they are independent businesspeople with an independent mindset.

They have to be led.

To lead them, you have to have referent power and expert power - they have to believe you know what you're doing.

They don't believe this - the bugs are a major contributor to that belief.

A few weeks ago, ebay sent out an email trying to get people to go to one of their URL's so that ebay could "help" them more with their own individual websites.

That was widely regarded as a joke at best, a scam at worst.

When I saw that email, my first reaction was, "You can't even run your own website and you're trying to tell me how to run MINE? You must be kidding." It is an opinion shared by a large percentage of your sellers.

You are losing credibility, just like a professional advertiser would if he couldn't spell.

This is serious. This site should not have this many bugs.

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Here is a major technical issue that affects many large sellers.

When purchasing postage through PayPal, GST and/or HST is charged by PayPal and debited to the seller's account without any information about the amount of GST/HST paid.

How can sellers recover the tax paid (through ITC) if PayPal does not provide the information?

Hi Pierre,

I agree, this is not working well. I sent it to our Canadian PayPal team to see if they can do anything about it. I will let you know!

Thanks!

[vincenzo@ebay.com]

Kalvin,

I don't think you guys in administration really "get" how serious the cumulative effect of all of these bugs are, frankly.

You pass them off as "report them to CS" and assume they'll get fixed. They don't.

Hi surplusdealdude,

I will let Kalvin address the CS part and bug report process as it is his area but we do have a product management team here in Toronto (Rodney and I) and we know how the accumulation of these bugs can weight on our seller's business.

As you all know, the site is incredibly complex and unfortunately, it is true that at any given time, a few things are not working as they should. When we are made aware of issues, we do everything we can to find a resolution, it's not always quick and easy but I assure you that we try to address every single one.

To be very honest, the changes in CS have had many advantages but have also made it a bit more challenging for us to get informed of specific Canadian issues in some areas of the site. We are working on this... but in the meantime, threads like this help tremendously. If you notice something wrong or to improve from a product standpoint, feel free to send me a quick email. Working on making the site better is part of my job. 🙂

Thanks!

[pierrelebel]

"the site is incredibly complex "

I heard that line in 1998 from Jerry, no kidding!

[surplusdealdude]

vincenzo,

it is true that at any given time, a few things are not working as they should.

We're not talking about "a few bugs".

We're talking about DOZENS!

You're just getting the things that we can think of off the top of our head!

We're talking about an atmosphere of mistakes that is so prevalent that nobody bothers to even report them anymore.

And with Paypal now doing its best to catch up to you ( i see new bugs reported on those platforms EVERY SINGLE DAY), and a customer service system that's useless on both sites, people look at ebay/paypal and think you're a bunch of drooling idiots.

And you respond that "the site is complicated.

NO MORE EXCUSES!

If the site is complicated, ebay made it that way. nobody asked for "Best Match' - ebay imposed it. Buyers and sellers HATE IT. The same goes for 90% of your other "disruptive IT". You have unnecessarily complicated a terrific idea and you're messing it up.

STOP IT.

At its best incarnation, ebay is a dbase program on a huge scale, with other functions on the side that can be handled with subroutines or spun off into their own sites.

I know it's not precisely that easy, but nothing has to be this hard.

[surplusdealdude]

ANOTHER bug - this one has been going on for so long that it's just "normal"

ebay occasionally relists items that have been sold or deleted. Sometimes it duplicates a listing.

The seller winds up with a sale and can't find the part. Sometimes they get a neg out of it.

femmefan has reported, in post 19 of this thread (the OTHER one on bugs), that she found 8 duplicates in the first 50 listings;

http://forums.ebay.ca/topic/User-To-User/Lets-Make-A/600036411#1279274430049

Femme is a careful seller and others have noticed this as well. Sellers are not only being held responsible for their mistakes, we're being held responsible for ebay's as well.

ebay is holding sellers to a higher standard - I support that, in fact I think it's long overdue.

But ebay must also hold ITSELF to a higher standard as well. Right now, ebay's DSR's would be in the low 2's.