Seller News: April 2025

[38e_avenue]

Seller News: April 2025

https://www.ebay.ca/sellercentre/news/2025-april

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@38e_avenue wrote:

Seller News: April 2025

https://www.ebay.ca/sellercentre/news/2025-april

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It appears Volume Pricing has been turned on recently. Basically a variation of coupons with price coming off the top.  Will have to see how it behaves in regards to FVF's and if they are based on full price or discounted end price?

[cottagewoman]

And absolutely nothing regarding inevitable changes coming for de minimis, plans to help sellers, tools, etc. Thanks so much eBay, pretty obvious Canadian sellers are less than an afterthought.

[mrdutch1001]

"pretty obvious Canadian sellers are less than an afterthought. ">>>I've ben sayin' for years that eBay.Ca is NOT a priority; that .CA is not important enough to warrant the features .COM has and/or not important enough to spend time on fixes to numerous problems that have existed on.CA for years...

[flipistics]

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@cottagewoman wrote:
And absolutely nothing regarding inevitable changes coming for de minimis, plans to help sellers, tools, etc. Thanks so much eBay, pretty obvious Canadian sellers are less than an afterthought.

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Well, to be fair no one knows what's going to happen there yet. I don't think Trump even knows. It's hard for them to develop a system if they don't know how changes to the de minimis and tax / tariff collection are going to happen.

[cottagewoman]

@flipistics - agree with you there. But let us know there are eyes on things, that they understand the uncertainty and are here for us.

As to @mrdutch1001 - agree 100% as well - but we'll see what happens in the near future when the US becomes an economic island at some level, and eBay no longer has Chinese sales flowing in directly via de minimis. They better start paying attention to other markets, they have a strong UK operation and may need to start bolstering the platform in other jurisdictions.

[dinomitesales]

Required customer information

If you're selling to Mexico, make sure to provide your carrier with these buyer (recipient) details when shipping your items:

• Recipient’s full name

• Recipient’s email address

• Recipient’s phone number

• Detailed item descriptions (vague descriptions won’t be accepted)

• Recipient’s Mexican Tax ID (RFC), or, if unavailable, the National ID (CURP)

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But eBay doesn't give us the buyer's email address ... ?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@dinomitesales wrote:

Required customer information

If you're selling to Mexico, make sure to provide your carrier with these buyer (recipient) details when shipping your items:

• Recipient’s full name

• Recipient’s email address

• Recipient’s phone number

• Detailed item descriptions (vague descriptions won’t be accepted)

• Recipient’s Mexican Tax ID (RFC), or, if unavailable, the National ID (CURP)

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But eBay doesn't give us the buyer's email address ... ?

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@dinomitesales 

devon@ebay 

We will have the same problem getting tax id numbers when they are a requirement. Required for shipments to USA for shipments over 2500.00 US by mail. (This amount may be changed shortly depending on what happens with deminimus. Courier have had those same tax id requirement for years. The long customs form available with Shippo has that field. 

Search results: Dated: Approx. Sept 2023. (Information has not been updated due it being a fluid situation.

• Formal Entry Requirement:

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires a formal entry for commercial importations valued over $2,500. 

  • Courier Services:

    Courier services often require an identification number even for informal entries (below $2,500) because their electronic systems require it. 
  • Informal Entry:

    Shipment values between $800 and $2,500 fall under informal entry. 
  • Section 321 Entry:

    Items costing $800 or less are duty-free and fall under Section 321 shipments

    As per Shipstation from 21 days ago:  https://help.shipstation.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403172847259-Tax-Identifier-Numbers

From personal testing the email ebay provides for buyer (for last several years ONLY works within ebay. There is a chance a buyer may receive if they have a secondary email addy attached to eBay but no guarantees. (Note: Why it can cause problems when it comes to customer communication where you have file a trace for a missing parcel or make a claim on a damaged shipment. If mail service/courier does not have a way to contact both parties, standard protocol is to close case after a couple of attempts. ) 

Above posted for point of reference only. As noted please consider all of this <insert words of your choosing here> and a work in progress. Policies and specific requirements may vary depending on service you are using. 

[recped]

@lotzofuniquegoodies 

If you want to test (or test again) the use of eBay masked email addresses by third parties just send me a message and I'll try to use that address to send you a message from a non-eBay email account.

I know that when I am required to enter an email contact when using a carrier that requires it I just use my own email, if I was to receive any message of consequence I would forward it to the buyer through eBay.

It's rare but I do occasionally get a notification that a package is available for pick up, I forward those to the buyer.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@recped wrote:

@lotzofuniquegoodies 

If you want to test (or test again) the use of eBay masked email addresses by third parties just send me a message and I'll try to use that address to send you a message from a non-eBay email account.

I know that when I am required to enter an email contact when using a carrier that requires it I just use my own email, if I was to receive any message of consequence I would forward it to the buyer through eBay.

It's rare but I do occasionally get a notification that a package is available for pick up, I forward those to the buyer.

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@recped 

The only reason I passed on that info regarding ebay addies was because I had a US shipment that arrived damaged. I passed on the ph on file along with the ebay addy and Cp/USPS said they had no luck contacting with either. I've inquired with Devon in the past but there was no follow up. 

I have discovered recently that many messages to both buyers and sellers to not get a response. This is either due to ebay filters or users do not check their ebay emails. I have a secondary email addy attached to my ebay. If someone tags me to a discussion (usually dot com) I get a cc at that secondary email geeemail. There are even apps you can attach to geeemail that will send you an alert. If I get tagged on ca forum, I will sometimes get that secondary alert but not 100 % of the time. It does not take much for ebay emails to be blocked by eBay. (As I think I mentioned before if you try to send a link in ebay message to buyer or seller ebay automatically blocks.If CP were to attempt to include a link using the ebay addy it would be blocked by default.) Very similar to when eBay sends a message with disclaimer  we see We don't check this mailbox, so please don't reply to this message. If you have a question, go to ...

I just forwarded you a test email. Hopefully you received.

Begs the question if someone sends you an email in the forest and ebay blocks it how it will you know if you should have received that email? Why received/read would be an awesome feature to have within ebay. 

[chicweb]

With this email problem, there's a few things on the top of my head I can think of that eBay can implement.

1. Having a shorter email address specifically for custom purposes that would not be filtered as much (or allowed to be bypassed specifically from official customs around the world). That mean, eBay must know all the official customs sender email add.

- This could also be done by creating aliases to a pipeline. This alias would be something like username_custom (at) ebay.ca, username (at) customs.ebay.ca or something similar. It's easy enough to develop a pipeline internally that would distribute that email to the right account.

- This email would be shown only to sellers in the order to use on the labels.

2. Allowing sellers to see the email address of the customer. This open the door to abuse by sellers to contact buyers outside of eBay.

- This would be the simplier to implement but could cause problems later down the road.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@chicweb wrote:

With this email problem, there's a few things on the top of my head I can think of that eBay can implement.

1. Having a shorter email address specifically for custom purposes that would not be filtered as much (or allowed to be bypassed specifically from official customs around the world). That mean, eBay must know all the official customs sender email add.

- This could also be done by creating aliases to a pipeline. This alias would be something like username_custom (at) ebay.ca or something similar. It's easy enough to develop a pipeline internally that would distribute that email to the right account.

- This email would be shown only to sellers in the order to use on the labels.

2. Allowing sellers to see the email address of the customer. This open the door to abuse by sellers to contact buyers outside of eBay.

- This would be the simplier to implement but could cause problems later down the road.

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@chicweb 

I posted to Tyler on this subject 3 to 4 years ago when I switched over to eBay labels from Shippo. Originally eBay was including a valid addy. Until they stopped. The email addy/ph requirement has been a mandatory field for courier shipments for years. Yes, one can get creative to fill in that field using your own email or a fake ph. number but that does nothing to assist customs or a postal service if they need to contact the customer. That doesn't happen often but it can happen. When VAT suddenly became I thing and after doing some research I discovered that it also was a requirement of Royal Mail.

• Purpose of Contact Details:

  Providing recipient contact information helps customs authorities in Canada (or any country) to easily reach the recipient if any information on the customs declaration is unclear or missing.
• How to Provide:

  You should include the recipient's contact details within the electronic customs data or on the physical declaration (CN23).
• Electronic Customs Data:

  For businesses sending goods to Canada, since January 1, 2019, Royal Mail requires the provision of electronic customs data.
• Shipping Platforms:

  Royal Mail recommends using data-compliant shipping platforms like Click & Drop, Pro Shipping, or API Shipping to meet these requirements.

  eBay has chosen to ignore the importance of this info for privacy and the reasons you mentioned in closing.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@chicweb 

Discussion post from June 2023. See lines 10 and 17. There were several bumps to this discussion but nothing of substance for follow up, solutions or official work arounds. 

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Community-eBay-Site-Issues/eBay-Label-Concerns/td-p/496069

Also see post 14. 

[recped]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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I just forwarded you a test email. Hopefully you received.

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Yes I received the message, sent a reply at 6:56pm, if you didn't get it then the eBay block is confirmed. They must have "absorbed" it because I did not get a bounce back undelivered message.

I'll assume my From address has to match your original To message then eBay blocks but does not reject.

These days a lot of people will try to contact via SMS/Text instead of email so including the buyer's phone number may be the first method of contact in many cases.

Over at Stallion, leaving the email field blank is auto filled with my email address, for some carriers who send Out For delivery messages I get them, don't usually forward to the buyer unless the tracking never shows as delivered after a day or two.

For this Mexico situation using your own email is the best option as you can forward those to the buyer if necessary.

I've only shipped direct to Mexico a handful of times over 25 years but I do get orders shipping to Texas border towns, orders that are going to buyers registered in Mexico (mail drops or forwarders).

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@recped wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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I just forwarded you a test email. Hopefully you received.

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Yes I received the message, sent a reply at 6:56pm, if you didn't get it then the eBay block is confirmed. They must have "absorbed" it because I did not get a bounce back undelivered message.

I'll assume my From address has to match your original To message then eBay blocks but does not reject.

These days a lot of people will try to contact via SMS/Text instead of email so including the buyer's phone number may be the first method of contact in many cases.

Over at Stallion, leaving the email field blank is auto filled with my email address, for some carriers who send Out For delivery messages I get them, don't usually forward to the buyer unless the tracking never shows as delivered after a day or two.

For this Mexico situation using your own email is the best option as you can forward those to the buyer if necessary.

I've only shipped direct to Mexico a handful of times over 25 years but I do get orders shipping to Texas border towns, orders that are going to buyers registered in Mexico (mail drops or forwarders).

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@recped 

As expected, no follow up message received to your message. So eBay messaging is eBay internally only. It's very important that info is there and secondly that it is valid. In many cases, especially with long time users they don't update if info changes. Like test deposits address personal info needs to be verified. 

As per post 13 threw this concern to eBay in 2023 and before with never anything  in the way of actual follow up. 

If you use your own personal email addy or ph, it is defeating the purpose. The reason it is there is so the post office, courier or customs can reach the BUYER without roadblocks. With all these recent changes it's even more critical that all i's are dotted and t's are crossed. Problem being still no field for that info requirements with eBay Labels 3+ years after the system was created. 

@chicweb 

It was interesting or more like baffling that eBay in their announcement explained what was required for Mexican shipments but didn't follow up with how those requirements would be addressed. (Remind you of German packaging requirements quandry?) 

In my past 15 to 20 years of selling on eBay I've only shipped to Mexico a few times. Last time was in 2022 by Xpresspost. It was the ONLY service available due to size of item. The delivery went from Calgary, to Mtl and then got lost somewhere in the States before eventually getting delivered. Final delivery time was over 30 days. Normal delivery to Mexico using that service was 7 to 10 days. Filing a trace with CP/USPS required the email address which was available/included at that time but did get it moving and again for the trace. IF that shipment had not arrived or customer had filed an INR I would be on the hook for the cash. Having the required info made the difference. (Even eBay asks for tracking numbers....again...when a customer files an INR...Even though it was automatically filled in when shipment was created.)

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@recped 

As a side note regarding a detailed description it appears we are limited to 50 character of which we can view part of...approx 16 1/2 at 1 time. When that text prints it only partially displays so we are unable to confirm if all that was entered is all that is accessible/readable (via a physical scan). eBay can corrupt very long addresses due to this same number of allowable characters issue. When eBay fills in VAT info as part of the address it can overwrite an address making final delivery a problem. Why it is always best to confirm addresses and include an address label on box as back up. (For my above mentioned shipment to Mexico I had to do some major tinkering to get address to work because it included directions with mile markers.)