eBay

tyler@ebay · ‎11-20-2018

Hi everyone -

Opening the chat for your questions, and will respond to them tomorrow (the 21st).

Thanks!
Tyler

Tyler,

momcqueen · ‎11-20-2018

Well. Again, thank you for being here and opening the weekly chat. We do appreciate it and all that you do here on the boards for us along with Happy Pigeon.

You're not going to find a single happy ebay seller or buyer here this week.

We are all upset about the impact that Canada Post rotating strikes are having on our sales performance and delivery times as sellers and our incoming purchases as buyers.

Some sellers are starting to see items not received cases skyrocket and others are cancelling orders and shutting down shop. I must stay open, however, since I cannot afford to quit working in November as a toy seller in Canada.

What is ebay doing this week to protect the interests of its buyers and sellers?

I appreciate very much the steps Ms Stairs took last week, and see it prompted other leaders in the business community to do same. But that was then and this is now and things have gotten much much worse.

My plan is to stay open and add another ten business days to handling time, hike my prices to compensate for the double-cost of domestic courier rates and flood the local classified with offers for Local Pickup while shovelling my outbound international parcels to a local freight-forwarded who will carry them for mailing into the USA.

Will ebay push Nearest to Me as a search option to allow buyers to see local sellers who are still open so that they can still shop via Local Pickup? I don't need postal carriers to hand an order to a customer who's come to my doorstep, so I'd appreciate any assistance ebay might give to sellers who can still fulfill orders like that at least.

Have delivery estimates been adjusted? I saw posted the note that buyers are getting now. Is that enough? Is ebay Corporate planning anything else?

I'm still seeing orders placed (for which I am grateful) but I'm down from even last year's meagre holiday earnings by 20 per cent which in my hand-to-mouth home is the difference between paying my electrical bill on time and not. Never mind that I use my November earnings to fund the purchase of my own December purchases.

This is bad. We are suffering.

I'm writing to the PMO and my MP for the good it will do which is not much unless tens or hundreds of thousands of other ebay buyers and sellers do same.

Thanks,

Maureen

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-20-2018

Hello Tyler,

A couple of suggestions to throw against the wall and see if they stick.

1) Has there been any thought to combining USA & Canada as a Seller Level? Or are they considered completely separate entities? As sellers, we have limited control as to who/where is going to buy from next. The alternate plan would be basing that discount on dollar value levels vs number of transactions. Which would eBay really prefer? $1000 in sales or 100 $5.00 transactions? That 10% or more carrot to have is very much appreciated. As sellers trying to get our businesses to grow, we can only mark products up so much and to lose it to fees becomes very frustrating. Also, once this postal disruption is over there may be a number of sellers that lose their discount(s) due to no fault of their own with a long road to get those discounts back.

2) Add a No Thank You for GSP button to Search options. This would make searching for items a much more enjoyable experience for the average seller who would prefer to avoid this program at all costs and at the same time cut down on nasty mail to the Canadian discussion board.....Dramatically!

Hey, one can dream!!

-CM

renata6 · ‎11-20-2018

Hi Tyler:

I am beginning to receive "item not received" cases caused by the postal strike slow-down. Will Ebay automatically side with the buyer, as per usual, and insist on refunds to be made? I would hope that Ebay would give sellers a longer window to resolve the case. The 1-week window seems short when we have a 1-month backlog in the mails.

esclyons · ‎11-20-2018

a question regarding delivery estimates.. It is bad enough we are dealing with the Canada post mess.

But i have just sold 2 items to 2 different people, and the estimates for delivery are 4-18 business days. When i click on order details , it says estimated delivery Fri. Nov 30- Thurs. Dec 6. That works out to only 16 days, and that is calendar days not business days. This is not the kind of issue we need to be dealing with, when the mail backlogs are already putting us under the gun, so to speak..

Seeing i am already being short changed on delivery days what is ebay, planning on doing to help.. and why is time not being added to expected delivery times..

triber · ‎11-20-2018

Hi Tyler,

Like many other Canadian sellers I have had to close my store for now, just too much stress with the long delivery times, most of my items are letter mail, and I think these are probably the last to be delivered.

My question is about store fees, we are not responsible for having to close our stores, but we will still have to pay fees for the time our stores are closed. Will there be any compensation for this?

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎11-21-2018

Hi Tyler,

These were posted in a different thread as well, and sorry if they have been asked before.

1. I think a free listing promo later on after the strike situation ended, and perhaps waiving one month's worth of store fees for those who were forced to put their store on vacation, would be very helpful. Personally I've ended all of my listings.

2. Question about INR: I will not have internet access for a week as I'm going on a family trip soon, so if INRs are filed while I'm gone and they closed in buyer's favour because I didn't respond within 4 days, will eBay be able to remove those defects?

3. Likewise, are we protected from all late defects, low DSRs, and negative feedbacks occurring with the near future, regardless of whether or not we use tracking?

4. When is that $5/month store plan coming out to the .CA side?

cumos55 · ‎11-21-2018

The postal strike has been a painful and frustrating experience for sellers on eBay.

The effect on sellers was obvious. What was unexpected was the backlog of parcels at major Canada Post handling facilities. A more critical factor is that Canada Post has asked international postal services not to forward mail to Canada because of the backlog in Canada.

CUPW, the Postal Union was surprised to hear this was happening. The union has said that stopping the flow of mail into Canada was unacceptable.

The fact that Andrea Stairs, an eBay Manager, communicated directly with the Prime Minister was an important happening. It was national news and made everyone aware of the fact that on-line sellers were adversely affected by this postal strike. Andrea Stairs spoke for all sellers on eBay, and spoke as the equivalent to CUPW’s Mike Palecek, the Minister of Labor, the head of Canada Post and the Prime Minister.

The focus by CUPW has been the members of the union. They choose not to recognize the effect of the strike on online sellers, and then the effect on buyers that make purchases online, whether in Canada or elsewhere.

It must be recognized that Canada Post is an essential service for eBay sellers, and for eBay buyers. This understanding must be extended to all online sellers and buyers. We as sellers on eBay require a collective voice, that speaks for all sellers. Individual sellers can speak up but we need someone to speak for all eBay sellers, in a manner to CUPW expressing views for 50,000 members of the Postal Union.

Canada Post is in a difficult situation where the Postal Union has absolute control to say “No”. CUPW chooses not work with Canada Post, but chooses to promote a fight. CUPW functions like a union did many decades ago. CUPW must change. It is important to find a way to prevent the Postal Union from ever going on strike again, and adversely affect online sellers and buyers like CUPW has in 2018 We must speak up as a collective group of sellers on eBay, and get other online sellers to speak up as well.

Canada Post is an essential service for on-line sellers and buyers. Canada Post, as an essential service must be given full control as a postal service without any interference.

The internet has changed the retail world. Online selling and buying continues to increase with each passing year.

cumos55 · ‎11-21-2018

We must recognize that the two involved in this Canada Post situation includes the Postal Union, CUPW and Canada Post Corporation.

There has been a significant amount of collateral damage to Canadian sellers on eBay. This strike has resulted in less sales for eBay sellers. eBay sellers have experienced a level of anxiety and frustration, particularly over the last series of weeks.

Although many sellers continue to sell on eBay they have no way to meet the requirement of buyers without receiving a measure of buyer unhappiness.

Many sellers have already put their stores on vacation.

Everything that is happening to eBay sellers is collateral damage.

Can CUPW be found legally responsible for this collateral damage, and then be required to compensate eBay sellers for having done this.?

This could be a most interesting result, where CUPW must compensate each eBay seller a minimum amount for loss in sales, and the creation of a measure of anxiety and frustration for each seller.

A suggested minimum amount….. $5,000... a minimum amount

This is a thought that may never become a reality…. But … maybe?

CUPW must recognize how eBay sellers have been affected by this strike..... and then all online sellers that have used Canada Post.

Something has to be done where a postal strike can never happen again.....

cumos55 · ‎11-21-2018

These are my thoughts.

No immediate response is required.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-21-2018

Hello Tyler,

Would it be possible, to extend Unsold listings purges from 3 to 4 months? This would extend the time window on the listings which are about to be removed, so we will be able to relist when things are back to normal. It's really not making much sense adding any new listings to our current ones with no realistic/affordable way to ship them. This way we would have access to them for a longer time period and give us better flexibility when the Postal System is up and running again.

Thanks,

-CM

cumos55 · ‎11-21-2018

Most likely the best option would be to declare Canada Post as an essential service.

Even with such a declaration, the NDP will fight such a transition, because such an option will be against a union's right to strike.

We need someone to help all online sellers to prevent a strike from ever happening again...

When eBay contacted the Federal Government, that can be viewed as a start to a next step to be taken.

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

Hi @momcqueen - thanks for sharing your experience this has had on your business. I know that this is a situation that is definitely impacting a huge number of sellers and we are doing what we can to support members.

To that end, we are extending estimated delivery times, including verbiage at the top of the home page to educate buyers (if they weren't already aware), and protecting your selling performance from negative feedback, late shipments, tracking upload misses, and Item not Received requests.

Your suggestion about making 'local pickup' or 'nearest to me' a prominent option is a good one, and I've made sure it's been sent to the right folks.

I think the steps you've taken to push to other shipping options is the best course of action for the time being - it's not what anyone here wants to have to suggest for you (having to raise prices, doing more shipping/courier legwork, etc) but I think it's the best stopgap while we wait for resolution to this.

We've got your back - and will continue to - so hang in there!

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

Hello Tyler,

A couple of suggestions to throw against the wall and see if they stick.

1) Has there been any thought to combining USA & Canada as a Seller Level? Or are they considered completely separate entities? As sellers, we have limited control as to who/where is going to buy from next. The alternate plan would be basing that discount on dollar value levels vs number of transactions. Which would eBay really prefer? $1000 in sales or 100 $5.00 transactions? That 10% or more carrot to have is very much appreciated. As sellers trying to get our businesses to grow, we can only mark products up so much and to lose it to fees becomes very frustrating. Also, once this postal disruption is over there may be a number of sellers that lose their discount(s) due to no fault of their own with a long road to get those discounts back.

2) Add a No Thank You for GSP button to Search options. This would make searching for items a much more enjoyable experience for the average seller who would prefer to avoid this program at all costs and at the same time cut down on nasty mail to the Canadian discussion board.....Dramatically!

Hey, one can dream!!

-CM

Seller levels are grouped by region: US, UK, Germany and Global (any seller selling outside of the other 3 regions). There currently aren't plans to alter that.

We are protecting members from impact from the postal dispute. These protections should be applied automatically, but if someone loses their status we would want them to contact CS so they can review the situation and get things adjusted correctly.

When it comes to shipping options there isn't a way to filter out GSP items, though a member can always go through and review shipping options before purchase. Alternatively setting item location to CA only could help too. I don't anticipate a 'non-GSP' search filter to be added in the future.

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@renata6 wrote:

Hi Tyler:

I am beginning to receive "item not received" cases caused by the postal strike slow-down. Will Ebay automatically side with the buyer, as per usual, and insist on refunds to be made? I would hope that Ebay would give sellers a longer window to resolve the case. The 1-week window seems short when we have a 1-month backlog in the mails.

Hi @renata6 - CS has been instructed to allow additional time for delivery on item not received requests. If you contact customer support they can place any request on a temporary hold to give CPC more time to get your item to them.

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@esclyons wrote:

a question regarding delivery estimates.. It is bad enough we are dealing with the Canada post mess.

But i have just sold 2 items to 2 different people, and the estimates for delivery are 4-18 business days. When i click on order details , it says estimated delivery Fri. Nov 30- Thurs. Dec 6. That works out to only 16 days, and that is calendar days not business days. This is not the kind of issue we need to be dealing with, when the mail backlogs are already putting us under the gun, so to speak..

Seeing i am already being short changed on delivery days what is ebay, planning on doing to help.. and why is time not being added to expected delivery times..

Hi @esclyons - this definitely sounds unusual. I'll reach out to you for more detail to see what we can do to get this addressed. Thanks!

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@triber wrote:

Hi Tyler,

Like many other Canadian sellers I have had to close my store for now, just too much stress with the long delivery times, most of my items are letter mail, and I think these are probably the last to be delivered.

My question is about store fees, we are not responsible for having to close our stores, but we will still have to pay fees for the time our stores are closed. Will there be any compensation for this?

Hi @triber - sorry to hear that you've put your store on vacation mode, but I understand your reasoning (letter mail does seem tricky).

We're encouraging everyone to remain open for business, if they can, and are working to prevent negative impacts to your seller performance and reputation (as we've talked about before).

At this time there is no plan to credit store subscription fees if you choose to place your account on vacation mode.

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:

Hi Tyler,

These were posted in a different thread as well, and sorry if they have been asked before.

1. I think a free listing promo later on after the strike situation ended, and perhaps waiving one month's worth of store fees for those who were forced to put their store on vacation, would be very helpful. Personally I've ended all of my listings.

2. Question about INR: I will not have internet access for a week as I'm going on a family trip soon, so if INRs are filed while I'm gone and they closed in buyer's favour because I didn't respond within 4 days, will eBay be able to remove those defects?

3. Likewise, are we protected from all late defects, low DSRs, and negative feedbacks occurring with the near future, regardless of whether or not we use tracking?

4. When is that $5/month store plan coming out to the .CA side?

Hi @zee-chan-jpn-books!

1. That's a good suggestion!

2. We are applying protections for item not received requests. If you do have any requests closed in the buyer's favor because you didn't reply I would definitely contact CS for a review and appeal.

3. Yes.

4. I'm not sure, but I'm hoping it's in the near future!

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎11-21-2018

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

Hello Tyler,

Would it be possible, to extend Unsold listings purges from 3 to 4 months? This would extend the time window on the listings which are about to be removed, so we will be able to relist when things are back to normal. It's really not making much sense adding any new listings to our current ones with no realistic/affordable way to ship them. This way we would have access to them for a longer time period and give us better flexibility when the Postal System is up and running again.

Thanks,

-CM

Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies!

There isn't a way to extend the time items will stay in the unsold/sold section, it currently tops out at 90 days. We've discussed offline listing options in the past (like File Exchange, sixbit, inkfrog, etc) that I think may be the better option here.

Tyler,