w~~_7.JPG "pjcdn2005"){kind=avatar}
@dutchman48 wrote:Why don't you call the other site Gretzky. That would get a lot of attention but not sure if his name could be used without permission.
We probably all know which one we're talking about, but it has been called "Betsy" (maybe a bit more à propos than a hockey player??). 
@mjwl2006 wrote:"Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to leave eBay so that they can sell, buy, or participate on sites other than eBay that includes the sale of merchandise, auction-style listings, or services, such as off-eBay forums, off-eBay groups, and other sites"
mj, to conclude that this blurb suggests that mentioning other sites is taboo on this chat it a HUGE leap. Merely naming another site isn't even close to suggesting that someone leave eBay to sell or buy there.
In fact, seems a little silly to suggest that it is the same thing. 
I've always named other sites when appropriate and no one has ever censored those posts.
I think your 9 points have pretty much summed up this problem. I've run into this issue as well with purchases from European sites that advertise combined shipping discounts on their listings.
But I don't think it's their fault that the "Request Total" system doesn't now allow them to give such discounts manually. EBay changed something a few months ago in that system, and I'm certain most sellers have absolutely no idea what is happening in the background. What is happening is that they're likely losing a lot of multi-item purchases from buyers who get an error screen from eBay telling them they can't get shipping discounts from the seller (see example of this error message below). It's really terrible, because not only could it encourage buyers to abandon their proposed purchases, but it makes the seller look like a liar if they do advertise combined shipping discounts in their listings.
I can say with some certainty that a radical change happened of which sellers may be unaware because a purchase I made about 4 months ago from a seller on eBay.fr, from whom I'd purchased more than once in the past (and never had any trouble requesting a total), suddenly resulted in the same "dead-end" error screen on that occasion. If I hadn't been an experienced seller, I doubt I would have known what to do to back out, choose my items again individually using "BIN", then email the seller to ask for a total before I checked out. This, in my view, is purely ridiculous for a site the size of eBay, and should never be allowed to persist. Yet persist it has, for months now.
The only thing I'd say that I somewhat disagree with is that I think Tyler et al are probably stuck in some sort of mind warp rather than being deliberately unhelpful. I really don't think they themselves grasp this issue in a comprehensive way. Either they still don't "get it", or eBay has told them not to waste their time on it (maybe it's not a cheap or easy fix now that it's been effectively broken!).
As usual, their go-to reply is unfortunately to make the seller responsible for lack of proper site function -- in this you're quite right. Either we're not doing things correctly, or we need to use a workaround. In my view, neither "solution" is acceptable when we are in fact their paying customers/subscribers, and the people who make the corporation money.
One thing you're absolutely right about: in over 15 years on eBay, I've yet to see their checkout system operate effectively for all users across sites in any consistent way for any reasonable length of time.
For anyone who hasn't yet encountered it, here's the offending error screen:
@sylviebee wrote:
@mjwl2006 wrote:"Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to leave eBay so that they can sell, buy, or participate on sites other than eBay that includes the sale of merchandise, auction-style listings, or services, such as off-eBay forums, off-eBay groups, and other sites"
mj, to conclude that this blurb suggests that mentioning other sites is taboo on this chat it a HUGE leap. Merely naming another site isn't even close to suggesting that someone leave eBay to sell or buy there.
In fact, seems a little silly to suggest that it is the same thing.
I've always named other sites when appropriate and no one has ever censored those posts.
I didn't write the rules. I'm merely explaining them as they have been explained to me by the moderators here.
@mjwl2006 wrote:
@sylviebee wrote:
@mjwl2006 wrote:"Enabling, encouraging, or instructing others to leave eBay so that they can sell, buy, or participate on sites other than eBay that includes the sale of merchandise, auction-style listings, or services, such as off-eBay forums, off-eBay groups, and other sites"
mj, to conclude that this blurb suggests that mentioning other sites is taboo on this chat it a HUGE leap. Merely naming another site isn't even close to suggesting that someone leave eBay to sell or buy there.
In fact, seems a little silly to suggest that it is the same thing.
I've always named other sites when appropriate and no one has ever censored those posts.
I didn't write the rules. I'm merely explaining them as they have been explained to me by the moderators here.
mj, Trust me: I already know that you didn't write the rules. However, the rules do not say that it is against policy to mention other sites by name when appropriate. Not even close.
The rule states that it's against policy to encourage others to leave eBay to sell on another site.
There two concepts are VERY different.
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