eBay

katlover1952 · ‎04-20-2021

My bank account for my eBay sales (tied to my Paypal acct of course) is located in the US. My understanding was that eBay was going to sort this out. Just a heads up for anyone who is in the same situation as me because I just talked to eBay this am. I am required to set up a new bank account in Canada. It can be in US or CAD dollars. I sell on both sites. This IMO is a definite inconvenience to sellers in this situation but it is pretty obvious to me that eBay does not really care.

Something interesting that came out of the conversation was the rep indicated the account had to be in Canada & that eBay would be collecting & paying my income tax on the sale. I said whoa eBay better be doing anything with my income tax as I file that on my own. I asked if he meant sales tax & he said yes. Not surprising I suppose as the provinces must be hating missing out on this revenue & the Amazons of the world are already collecting & remitting.

Anway sounds like there is no longer any time & that this issue was never going to be solved so we must change our bank accounts for them. As I sell on both .ca &.com the big question is now should I open a US dollar account or a Canadian dollar account. Whichever I am sure their exchange rate will not be in our favour. Just curious as to what those of you sell on both sites opened.

blackranda2 · ‎04-24-2021

Managed payments is not the system which I signed up for when I first registered on eBay years ago . I registered with them because they used PayPal as as the payment provider. I had a contract with eBay as a seller on those terms. They are now voiding that contact without giving me any choice. Either do it their way or you will be banned from selling on their site. Don't see how I can be anymore realistic than that.

lady.stark · ‎04-24-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
There are lots of reasons why people leave ebay but if the seller you know left because they were going to pay 20% more in fees than that was silly as I don't see how someone could pay that much more just because of MP

I think my message was misunderstood. I never said they were going to pay 20% *more* with MP. I said they were paying 20% on average. I'm basing this on my own selling fees (according to eBay themselves in their sales reports), which are often 20% or more. Of course, I don't know how VIP's fees were, but I'm pretty sure they were pretty similar to mine.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎04-25-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
eBay insists on labeling anything new as easier/better/ cheaper etc etc and sellers that have been around for a while already know that this is rarely the case. But many of them to keep forgetting that. Ebay seems to prefer to over promise and under deliver with many things just like they do with delivery times and such things as the gsp or international standard delivery so it's best to reserve judgement rather than listen to the hype and be disappointed later on. IMO they would be better off to be more upfront rather than try to sugar count things but I'm not counting on that changing anytime soon.

@lotzofuniquegoodies What do you mean by:
"And then the out of the blue to no longer refund FVF's for partial refunds"

afaik they have not given fvf credits for partial refunds in years...if ever. I know that they would sometimes give one if the seller phoned in but that was never guaranteed and I didn't think that they had even done that for quite a while.

Apologies. I misspoke. I keep thinking in the back of my mind that eBay SHOULD automatically refund FVF fees for partial refunds, without a special request.

As a side there is a discussion on dot com where a seller had a number of sales cancelled by eBay for a bad buyer. Seller had to jump through major hoops to get all the refunds. Really shouldn't be that way when the seller has done anything wrong.

-Lotz

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-25-2021

Sorry, I did misunderstand the 20% comment.

marnotom! · ‎04-25-2021

@blackranda2 wrote:

Managed payments is not the system which I signed up for when I first registered on eBay years ago . I registered with them because they used PayPal as as the payment provider. I had a contract with eBay as a seller on those terms. They are now voiding that contact without giving me any choice. Either do it their way or you will be banned from selling on their site. Don't see how I can be anymore realistic than that.

You know what? PayPal wasn't even a thing when my wife and I started out on eBay. You'd be amazed at how different the eBay of the late 1990s was compared to the eBay of now. Buyers and sellers could communicate directly with each other by email, sellers could accept a variety of payment methods, there was a bulk listing tool called "Mister Lister," and the only way Canadian sellers could accept credit card payments was if they had credit card merchant accounts.

There's quite a bit about eBay that's changed since you joined 14-plus years ago, too.

Most websites that require a userbase to function have a clause in their user agreement to the effect that the terms of use are subject to change and that the user continuing to use the site after a change in the TOU have agreed to those new terms, so I'm afraid your concerns on principle about an old contract being voided on you without choice don't really wash with me as there have been many of these changes since you first joined and you've continued to use the site regardless.

I think it's unrealistic to think that an eCommerce website is not going to evolve over time to accommodatae the overall user experience, security issues, efficiency, functionality, and bang for its owners' bucks.

blackranda2 · ‎04-25-2021

Managed payments is not the system which I signed up for when I first registered on eBay years ago . I registered with them because they used PayPal as as the payment provider. I had a contract with eBay as a seller on those terms. They are now voiding that contact without giving me any choice. Either do it their way or you will be banned from selling on their site. Don't see how I can be anymore realistic than that.

reallynicestamps · ‎04-25-2021

Not having the money in my PayPal account to either spend where I want

I agree.

This is a major weakness in Managed Payments. And one that has a negative effect on eBay since sellers can no longer easily use their earnings to buy.

They are now voiding that contact without giving me any choice.

Well technically, you do have a choice.

Either Managed Payments and selling on eBay or no Managed Payments and not selling on eBay.

Either side can end the contract.

And generally a contract is only valid if it is between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

blackranda2 · ‎04-25-2021

You are right. Pretty much all the other reasons I chose eBay in the first place have been taken away one by one especially in the last 10 years. I could list them all but think most of us know what they are already. Yes I chose to keep selling on their site. However everytime they took away a feature I liked, I took away a higher priced item I would have listed on their site and sold it elsewhere. Also in the past 10 years I went from buying at least one item a week on their site to only buying once in while. I haven't bought anything at all from their site in 2021. You can check my feedback as a buyer to verify this.

This is bigger issue than the other smaller things which were just irratating. And I admit I am in a much better place now to just not cave to their requests than I was before. Whether I retire now or at the end of year as I planned to doesn't make that much of difference to me. It will be much harder for others who rely on eBay as their main source of income. Selling on eBay was a hobby for me. Hobbies are supposed to be fun. It is not much fun anymore. In fact it has become rather stressful. You never know now when you have sale with a new buyer if it will be sucessful or not. The chances of buyers opening disputes and/or leaving negatives has increased sustantially recently. I have checked feedback of many longtime sellers who used to have perfect scores and now have at least one or more negatives. Part of this could be because the pandemic is leaving it's mark on all of us. But most of the blame is on eBay for becoming so pro buyer and making it much easier for buyers to do this. The managed payments plan will only add to this stress because with it the refund process will be even more in favor of the buyer than it was before. To state that the buyer does not even have to return the item in an Item Not As Described dispute makes absolutely no sense to me. Sellers are expected to just refund the purchase on the buyer's say so???

Yes, I am well aware that eBay is going to do what they think is best for them but it doesn't mean I have to agree with it or not voice my opinion on it. There are some things I am going to miss about not selling on eBay but at this point in time there are a lot more that I am not going miss unfortunately.

marnotom! · ‎04-25-2021

I'm not going to quibble too much with your last post. There's just a couple of points that you made that niggle at me.

@blackranda2 wrote:

But most of the blame is on eBay for becoming so pro buyer and making it much easier for buyers to do this. The managed payments plan will only add to this stress because with it the refund process will be even more in favor of the buyer than it was before. To state that the buyer does not even have to return the item in an Item Not As Described dispute makes absolutely no sense to me. Sellers are expected to just refund the purchase on the buyer's say so???

eBay has pretty much always been pro-buyer, for want of a better term. It's buyers' money that makes the site go 'round, after all, and there's no point in creating this wonderful seller-centric intrastructure if there aren't procedures and components in place to make the site perceived as safe and user-friendly for buyers, otherwise there'd be no buyers. I suspect that many of the changes that you've put up with over the years are the results of bad behaviour on the part of users masquerading as your fellow sellers.

As for the refund process, I haven't seen anything that suggests that the only option in dealing with a "not as described" dispute is to refund without a return. This help page doesn't say anything about that, at any rate:

https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handling-return-requests?id=4115

blackranda2 · ‎04-25-2021

Yes the link you sent doesn't say anything about the only way to deal with Not As described dispute is to refund without a return however this page does say this:

If the payment dispute was filed because the item was not as described, you can request that the buyer returns the item. However, keep in mind that we can't force the buyer to return the item.

To find this I typed in Does a buyer have to return the item in an Item Not Received Dispute with eBay's managed payments on google.

The link is

https://www.google.com/search?q=does+a+buyer+have+to+return+the+item+in+an+Item+Not+Received+Dispute...

So it seems there is a gray area here.

marnotom! · ‎04-26-2021

What systems are in place under the PayPal-based system to force a buyer to return an item claimed as “not as described”?

I’m not reading what you posted to mean that a refund will definitely be issued if the buyer fails to return the item, only that eBay has no way to ensure that the buyer returns the item on the seller’s request.

I also can’t find anything on the .com discussion boards that suggests that refunds without returns (if requested by the seller) are 100% a thing.

Keep in mind that this is all in reference to payment disputes (chargebacks), not claims made through the Money Back Guarantee. eBay's info probably has a "grey area" sound to it because chargeback policies vary from card issuer to card issuer.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-26-2021

That statement is regarding payment disputes which refers to disputes opened with the buyers credit card or with PayPal, not claims made through the eBay mbg. Not as described claims made through credit cards have never required returns so that isn't a change but it is a change for PayPal claims.

Managed Payments doesn't change the return for refund requirement for the mbg.

blackranda2 · ‎04-26-2021

Okay, I went back to the first link you sent me (which I think is actually ebay's policy for returns before managed payments not for returns with managed payments) It does not seem to have been updated for the new managed payments. I read everthing very carefully again. I opened several of the links for the blue text.

Within the expanded link for eBay money back guarantee regarding an Item Not as Described dispute I scrolled through everything. I found this quite far down on the page which is something which I was not aware of before and am not sure what it actually means.

Refunds and billing for return shipping costs
If the buyer is responsible for return shipping, the return shipping cost won't be included in the refund.

If the seller is responsible for return shipping: my understanding in a MBG the seller is

If the seller sends funds to the buyer to pay for return shipping, the seller will not be refunded the amount by eBay even if the buyer chooses to not return the item.
Does this mean the buyer will still be refunded for the purchase or does it mean that the buyer will only refunded for the purchase if they do return the item(s)?
Perhaps you know the answer to this because I don't really understand the wording. Or maybe I am not smart enough to figure it out?

blackranda2 · ‎04-26-2021

Hmm... Didn't realize that. Thanks for filling me in.

marnotom! · ‎04-26-2021

@blackranda2 wrote:

Okay, I went back to the first link you sent me (which I think is actually ebay's policy for returns before managed payments not for returns with managed payments) It does not seem to have been updated for the new managed payments. I read everthing very carefully again. I opened several of the links for the blue text.

I think you'd better clarify which link you mean, because as far as I know I sent only one link to you and I can't find what you quoted on that page.

blackranda2 · ‎04-26-2021

This is the link you sent me.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handling-return-requests?id=4115

On the page that opens for that link in the 4th paragraph down it says:

If the buyer reports that the item arrived damaged or doesn't match the listing description, you'll see different options for responding to the return. If the purchase is covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, you'll have to accept the return, even if you have a no returns policy.

I then clicked on the blue words eBay Money.........

I can't remember which other blue words I clicked on that page to find the information I sent you but I will check again later when I have more time. I am watching a hockey game right now which is more important to me than this is

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-26-2021

@blackranda2 wrote:
Okay, I went back to the first link you sent me (which I think is actually ebay's policy for returns before managed payments not for returns with managed payments) It does not seem to have been updated for the new managed payments. I read everthing very carefully again. I opened several of the links for the blue text.
Within the expanded link for eBay money back guarantee regarding an Item Not as Described dispute I scrolled through everything. I found this quite far down on the page which is something which I was not aware of before and am not sure what it actually means.

Refunds and billing for return shipping costs
If the buyer is responsible for return shipping, the return shipping cost won't be included in the refund.
If the seller is responsible for return shipping: my understanding in a MBG the seller is
If the seller sends funds to the buyer to pay for return shipping, the seller will not be refunded the amount by eBay even if the buyer chooses to not return the item.

Does this mean the buyer will still be refunded for the purchase or does it mean that the buyer will only refunded for the purchase if they do return the item(s)?
Perhaps you know the answer to this because I don't really understand the wording. Or maybe I am not smart enough to figure it out?

The buyer will only be refunded for the purchase if they send the item back. Ebay is just saying that if you send money for the return label, they have no way of recovering that money from the buyer even if they don't use that money for a return label and don't send the item back.

But a seller may be able to recover that money if it was sent through PP goods and services. Money being sent that way is like making a purchase so if the buyer doesn't send you what you paid for..the package with the label..the seller could win an item not received claim. I know of at least 2 sellers who got the return shipping money back way but it was a while ago so I dont know for sure if it would still work.

blackranda2 · ‎04-26-2021

Okay I checked this out again and found it again.

This is the link you sent me.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handling-return-requests?id=4115

On the page that opens for that link in the 4th paragraph down it says:

If the buyer reports that the item arrived damaged or doesn't match the listing description, you'll see different options for responding to the return. If the purchase is covered by the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, you'll have to accept the return, even if you have a no returns policy.

Now click on the words eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, on that page.

It will take you to a new page. There is a HUGE amount of information on that page. You have to scroll through it all. This paragraph is there but is about 2/3 of the way down the page on my computer.

Refunds and billing for return shipping costs
If the buyer is responsible for return shipping, the return shipping cost won't be included in the refund.

If the seller is responsible for return shipping:

If the seller sends funds to the buyer to pay for return shipping, the seller will not be refunded the amount by eBay even if the buyer chooses to not return the item.

In an eBay Money Back Guarantee I am sure the pretty seller has to pay for the return shipping so not sure why they would even include the line - If the buyer is responsible.....

And if this is info for other dispites then why is it on the eBay Money Back Guarantee page?

Anyway don't sweat it if you can't find the paragraph because I am not even sure if this is still valid or not and I won't lose any sleep over it if I don't ever figure out what they actually mean. Doesn't seem very important to me anymore.

marnotom! · ‎04-27-2021

Why would the seller offer to fund the buyer’s return when providing the buyer with return postage is an option? The postage can be cancelled for a refund to the seller if the buyer declines to return the item.

Older but interesting thread:

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/A-buyer-wants-a-refund-but-won-t-return-their-item/td-p/...

Granted, this option is only available with domestic sales and sales to the US, but the cost of international postage is so prohibitive that a buyer and seller would likely work out an alternative solution to "return for refund" anyway.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-27-2021

If the seller is responsible for return shipping: my understanding in a MBG the seller is

If the seller sends funds to the buyer to pay for return shipping, the seller will not be refunded the amount by eBay even if the buyer chooses to not return the item.

The seller will not be refunded for "funds" , but a Return Shipping Label is not "funds" it is a receipt for a service.

The seller will not be refunded the cost of a Return Shipping Label by eBay, but may be refunded by the shipping service.

We can buy Return Shipping Labels from USPS through Shippo.

EBay is confusing Returns and Refunds.

Sellers can refuse Returns, but not Refunds.

It is not unusual for a Seller to refund without a return when return shipping is too high * or when the item is agreed to be damaged and unsaleable. Or any reason the buyer and seller agree on.

Does this mean the buyer will still be refunded for the purchase or does it mean that the buyer will only refunded for the purchase if they do return the item(s)?

Only if they return the item if that is demanded by the Seller.

*"too high" can be a very flexible term.