Spring Seller Update: Seller Protections

[tyler@ebay]

The Spring Seller Update is here, and with it more information about Seller Protections. You can get all the details here. Please leave your questions or comments below!

[pjcdn2005]

Hi Tyler,

How will you determine if a seller is using other retailers or another marketplace (versus shipping from a wholesaler) to ship directly to buyers?

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @pjcdn2005!

We have a sophisticated detection model that analyses an account's activity to determine if the items are being sourced from another retailer after the sale. I don't have more specifics than that I'm afraid. Thanks!

[pjcdn2005]

 I'm sure that some people will be very happy about the abusive buyers policy and especially that those type of returns will be taken off of the service metrics.  It all sounds very positive and is a step in the right direction.

1.  However,  since the faq mentions frequency of the buyers actions, does that mean that if I am the only one who reports the buyer who misusing returns or making a false claim, that the claim will not be removed from my metrics even if it seems obvious that the buyer is misusing them? 

2.  In most cases right now, ebay assumes that if a buyers says that an item is not as described, the seller pays for return shipping and is required to refund regardless of whether or not the item was nad.  Will this new seller protection change that or is the change just related to service metrics and feedback?

3.  Blocking buyers - On the US boards quite a few months ago, the reps there stated that if a blocked buyer made a purchase through another ID to bypass the block, the seller was expected to send out the purchase unless it could be shown that the buyer was bypassing with intentions of hurting the sellers account.  I believe that it was Heidi who posted that but I've seen parts of that backed up by the current board reps there.  Basically that makes the block pointless in many cases.  Will this still be the policy or if we suspect that a buyer is bypassing the block will ebay allow us to cancel the transaction without a penalty?

[msmaggie060]

Hi Tyler, once, many years ago, I sold but misplaced an item and so I purchased it (at a higher price) from another eBay seller and had it shipped directly to my buyer. I thought that this was good customer service. Does this now mean that we should no longer do this? Or is it okay as long as we get it from another eBay seller?

Hopefully this won’t ever happen again, but just in case thought I should know the specific rules.

[tyler@ebay]

Hi @pjcdn2005 - 

Great questions! Responses follow:

1. No - they are considered separate factors. If yours is the only report but the severity or intent of their action is in violation, you would still be protected. 

2. This change is related to feedback, defects and service metrics of abusive buyers only - the responsibility of return shipping wouldn't change.*

3. Would you mind finding that thread and tagging me to it? I'm requesting more clarification, but at high level that sounds outdated.  ***Edit to add*** I think I found the thread you're referencing. I'll work on getting that updated, or at least notated that it may be outdated, and I'll loop back with you when I have what the official stance is now! 

*With that said, abusive buyers should begin to see more checkpoints in returns that will help guide them to the proper return reason. This could include providing more details on the item, additional photos or paying for their own return shipping (regardless of return reason). 

[tyler@ebay]

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@msmaggie060 wrote:

Hi Tyler, once, many years ago, I sold but misplaced an item and so I purchased it (at a higher price) from another eBay seller and had it shipped directly to my buyer. I thought that this was good customer service. Does this now mean that we should no longer do this? Or is it okay as long as we get it from another eBay seller?

Hopefully this won’t ever happen again, but just in case thought I should know the specific rules.

---

Hi @msmaggie060 - I think that you provided a great service for your customer in such an unusual and rare situation.

When we talk about the kind of dropshipping that we're discouraging (and demoting in search), we're talking about members who's entire business model is purchasing items from other sellers (or other marketplaces) after they receive an order. 

In a one-off situation like you mentioned, I think it's not a bad thing for you to take the action you did. Formally, however, the 'official' answer would be to consider cancelling the transaction as out of stock. Thanks!

[reallynicestamps]

the reps there stated that if a blocked buyer made a purchase through another ID to bypass the block, the seller was expected to send out the purchase unless it could be shown that the buyer was bypassing with intentions of hurting the sellers account.

I believe our friend @zee-chan-jpn-books  is in this situation right now with a mother/daughter duo.

Not allowing Blocks to Block dangerous bidders is a poor decision.

[hlmacdon]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

Hi @pjcdn2005!

We have a sophisticated detection model that analyses an account's activity to determine if the items are being sourced from another retailer after the sale. I don't have more specifics than that I'm afraid. Thanks!

---

Pretty easy when they are wholesale dumping Amazon feeds into the site through popular third party programs. A lot of people who are dumping the Amazon warehouse deals stock will be a bit miffed by this change. A welcome long overdue change given you have many sellers selling used goods who have absolutely no idea of the condition of the item (Amazon's descriptions and conditions for warehouse deals are often highly misleading). 

Now how about tacking all the guys dropshipping Taobao inventory in China? Pretty easy to flag all those accounts since sellers are using multiple linked accounts to get around performance standards and negative feedback, and they are easy to spot due to their extended handling times. Same issue as Amazon used goods, you have sellers willfully mispresenting the condition of items they do not have in their possession.

The above are things ebay needs to continue to work on. The negative perception many people have about ebay are directly linked to chancers like this who invest nothing into the platform and add no value. I'd like to see ebay start gating sellers at some level, not as restrictive as Amazon but enough so you can actually qualify that people have inventory and are accurately representing it. With online taxes rolling out wholesale it's about time that there is some level of differentiation between registered businesses and casual sellers with limits reflecting the status. Without doing this you'll not effectively curtail this activity as it is simply all too easy to acquire established ebay and paypal accounts.

As much as we all complain about all of the changes at ebay, buyer trust is the number one thing and ebay has a very, very poor perception due to the easy with which individuals can hop online, purchase established/farmed ebay and paypal accounts and engage in this sort of behavior. In that respect account suspensions while welcomed are not going to entirely address the issue. Literally within the last week I witnessed one account engage in tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent transactions after particular deals were posted to online deal sites and I can tell you the reputational harm ebay suffers grows exponentially and this is a 24/7 occurrence on the marketplace.

Welcome progress nonetheless and it is nice to see that the pendulum is swinging in another direction for a change.

[33nhl]

More and more buyers are making purchases of items and they sometimes ask for the lowest shipping method so they can save on shipping. Some seller do that to try and help only to get the short end of the stick cause a lot of buyers once they do actually receive an item via regular mail they still file with Ebay as item not received and the buyer gets a refund and keeps the item.  This is becoming a huge problem and nothing is really being done to solve this issue.  If a seller tries to sell a $10.00 item and charge say $15.00 for shipping/mailing in order to be tracked no buyer will buy it.  Buying selling online has lost its honesty between all 3 parties Seller-Buyers and Ebay its self with lousy policies and over charges of fees

[reallynicestamps]

I agree with the problem of phoney INR disputes but disagree that eBay is at fault.

Our basic problem as Canadian sellers is that neither eBay nor Paypal will accept anything but Proof of Delivery (tracking) to win an INR dispute.

And the cost of tracked shipping from Canada is immense.

We jump from $3.12 for 100 grams  untracked LetterPost to the USA  to $12.59 for  a Tracked Packet the same weight.

Unless eBay and other online venues can persuade Canada Post to make our domestic tracked shipping more reasonable, and find some common ground with USPS to carry that cheaply tracked mail we small sellers (and larger mail order houses like... umm... Tilley Hats ? Lee Valley Tools?) are at the mercy of cheating Yanks.

Now some categories are going to have more problems than others.

The "criminal class" is classically male between 15 and 34. If your product appeals to that group, you will have more problems than stamp dealers (male but older) , booksellers, or even jewelry sellers.

Back at the turn of the century, Canada Post had automatic $100 insurance even on untracked goods. Apparently with online sales that became uneconomic for them.

But tracking, which is basically a barcode on the package and in the Corps' servers, shouldn't be as expensive as it is.

The USPS can sell tracking labels for a quarter online, to a much more litigious population than ours. 

I don't want Canada Post to lose money, their profits go to the Treasury after all, but they could encourage Canadian merchants and exporters by breaking even on North American tracked shipping.

[travis7s]

You can't even send non documents that meet lettermail size requirements, so realistically the cheapest way starts at ~$8 for Small packet USA.

[reallynicestamps]

@travis7s 

And nobody ever runs a red light when there is no traffic.

[travis7s]

I can see stamps and paper products going through but I have personally had packages rejected at the post office.

[63449]

any fellow Canadians not getting their purchases from China lately like me I have two from one seller that did not arrive and two more from another seller that are overdue and I would be surprised if they arrive at all wondering if it has anything to do with the trade war china has started with Canada I have never had a problem till this year I also thing Ebay should extend the time limit for filing a claim from 30 days for anything coming from China as thing coming from there always take over a month so not only do you lose your money you can't even leave a bad feedback either so all I can say is buyer beware 

[femmefan1946]

What is the "last estimated date" eBay gave you for delivery?

The 30 days starts then.

thing coming from there always take over a month so not only do you lose your money you can't even leave a bad feedback either so all I can say is buyer beware

If you are buying items that advertise Free Shipping this is more likely. If the seller also offers a more expensive but tracked/air mail service it is worth your time to pay for that.

Your time at minimum wage here in BC is worth 18 cents a minute, by the way. It's not nothing.

Less to do with the trade war which is on a much more macro level, than with sketchey merchants who are either selling vapourware (things that don't exist) or are shipping surface which is cheap but slllloooooowwwww.

There is no good reason for any item from overseas to take more than 30 days to arrive.

If the seller says in his Shipping information that it will take more than that, don't buy. Your time is worth too much to wait.

Mark the last estimated date for arrival on your calendar.

If it passes go to the Resolution Centre at the bottom of this page and open an Item Not Received Dispute.

There is a suggestion (not a demand) that you contact the seller.

Don't get into a conversation.

All you want is a tracking number. Actually all you want is a refund.

If you don't get either, ask eBay to step in and Escalate to a Claim.

If the seller cannot prove delivery(not shipping, Delivery) you will be refunded.

If the item arrives after your refund, you can return it using Paypal's Send Money service.