eBay

dutchman48 · ‎05-17-2017

Well the first chat has ended and sorry to say, same old, same old.

My opinion sad to say is a 1 out of 10 rating and no TRC badge

femmefan1946 · ‎05-17-2017

I missed it.

Sorry to musicyouneed- I was timeshifted out of the chat.

If any eBay staff does read this here is the question about zombie threads:

I know that when you go to list a subject you get suggestions of previous ones and that is probably why we get zombie threads. I would like to see threads locked after 6 months of no posts. You should be able to read them as sometimes they have valuable info but not be able to post to them.

This is annoying, and in many cases the information is so old as to be misleading.

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2017

I also missed it due to the time-shaft.

strange*highways · ‎05-17-2017

On the subject of "Zombie Threads" raised by one of our most highly esteemed members.

I was wondering how long a thread is considered a "New Thread" ?

Every time I come to the eBay Community page I see this message announcing "Two New Threads"

The threads in question were started in 2013.

Should they not now be referred to as "Middle Aged Threads" or "Old Threads" ?

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2017

'Older than dead' threads.

rose-dee · ‎05-17-2017

For one thing, I really didn't appreciate Rodney's sarcasm. At least that's a behaviour that Raphael didn't often indulge in.

It's not helpful when sellers are upset (and rightfully so) about so many worrisome issues, to have eBay Canada reps act so flippantly. It isn't their immediate livelihoods that are in question. I didn't get the impression there was much understanding for what is going on out here "in the trenches". Spin, rinse, repeat.

strange*highways · ‎05-17-2017

Are posts about Global Shipping still moved to those threads or are they allowed to stand on their own now ?

momcqueen · ‎05-17-2017

Personally, I thought Russ's joke was funny. And if I was good and mad about something and it was directed at me, I hope I'd still think it was amusing. I believe a well-placed joke can diffuse many a volatile situation, and that one certainly made me laugh. But then not everyone can take a joke. And that's fine.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-17-2017

GSP posts seem to be moved after a few days. j

The looooooooooog threads continue to grow.

As they should, since the problems have not disappeared although they may have changed.

Next week, we need to ask about how a GSP Dispute should be handled.

And again about how cross border returns should be handled by angry buyers.

rose-dee · ‎05-17-2017

@mjwl2006 wrote:
Personally, I thought Russ's joke was funny.

Which one? I counted five. It isn't the joking per se that I found objectionable, but the apparent lack of sensitivity on Rodney's part given the present context.

There are a lot of worried sellers right now who are looking to the people in charge at eBay to -- is it too much to ask? -- empathize enough to take our situations seriously. After all, our hard work pays their salaries, not the other way around. I thought the whole "shafted" shtick in particular was completely off-key.

I just don't think jokes and sarcasm were appropriate, given the recent announcements that will be bad news for a lot of smaller Canadian sellers. It's like making jokes as you nail the coffin shut -- ha-ha, have a good time. I didn't think it made eBay Canada (at least not as represented by Rodney) look all that good today.

ricarmic · ‎05-17-2017

I missed it because I didn't know it was revived yet!

In a previous life, one of the teams I managed had a very very similar role to these poor souls.

Generally they won't have the answers themselves, they have to go beg borrow and steal to try to get it from the relevant support groups, and they'll have the same problem as us in that the magnitude of a "Canadian" problem will be smaller than a similar "USA" problem in terms of exposure and cost to the overall corporation whilst it is broken.

It is hard for them to stay positive whilst beset by waves of complaints and problems, and generally from folks who are (understandably) upset to begin with. In my previous role, it was easier to try to bring some levity to a problem situation because generally people were together in a room or at least on a conference phone. Using the written word seriously increases the risk of increasing the frustration/irritation of the person reporting the issue because people attach their own emotions to the written words and generally they're different than the writer intended.

I always felt before that I empathized with the folks who's livelihoods depended on the issues being resolved. Now that my livelihood depends on this, I most certainly understand it now. I also now much better understand some of the "extreme" situations that came up over the years, especially from folks who's issues persisted for longer time periods.

They are new to our weekly discussion group, they'll see the comments here and they'll adjust over time. We need them as our voices into the "organization" that provides what we call eBay, that's the only way things will get identified in a way to ever be prioritized/actioned.

I do think measured doses of attempted levity won't hurt if delivered in the right way, these boards can be depressing places at times....we need them to stay sane as well......

ricarmic · ‎05-17-2017

Rose's point is a good one and a segue to my note.

The shafted joke probably would have been ok in a room full of people because the person saying it says it with a tone and style that the audience understands.

When it is written it is taken much more sharply and as is happening here not the way it was intended....

pocomocomputing · ‎05-17-2017

I did remember that the Weekly Session was restarting today but alas I thought it would be in the old established format of being open overnight to accumulate posts and responded to on a time available basis by the eBay "blues".

I guess that being open more than 1 hour will be one of my first suggestions next week and I will set my phone with an alarm to remember specifically. I found it so easy to post with the 24 hour period open topic as well as interact to replies by eBay in the 24 hours.

In the old days, in the one hour format I had to set an alarm and I had to add all my questions into a document on my desktop computer over the week so I could make several copy and paste posts in a few minutes in the extremely short 1 hour open period.

I wold suggest that anyone willing to post issues next week that they prepare in a similar manner.

Or perhaps we should revive mj's issues topic when made in the months the weekly session was absent to accumulate issues again and someone make sure they get posted to the short 1 hour session if the OP of the issue cannot make the short 1 hour period.

thestuffofchris · ‎05-17-2017

Usually I'm that person who thinks people need to lighten up more, but even I felt a bit weird about the seemingly blasé attitude towards dutchman48. (Yes, I Googled blasé so I could copy-and-paste it.)

I absolutely agree that a dose of humour here and there, especially on these boards, is necessary. I try to inject some humour myself, here and there. But, as ricarmic also notes, written attempts at humour can be received much more harshly than intended due to a lack of true understanding of the person's intent. Even an emoticon doesn't completely make it obvious.

I don't think Russ intended his humour to come off as negative, or to diminish the seriousness of any issues. I do think the humour was ill-timed, considering how long it has been since the last Weekly Chat and how quickly frustrations have grown since then. The light-heartedness came off to some of us as the issues not being taken seriously, which very well may not actually reflect reality.

dutchman48 · ‎05-17-2017

I'm very thick skinned due my job in my working life so his attempt at humor means nothing.

What it unfortunately did show me was no attempt to even answer my questions and one was totally skewed as he referred to not losing commercial sellers when my question was about non commercial sellers.

The chats are supposed to give us answers to concerns and questions which did not appear to be forthcoming.

That is the way the old chats were, the way the US chats are now, and the way the Canadian ones will go as well.

rose-dee · ‎05-17-2017

@ricarmic wrote:

They are new to our weekly discussion group, they'll see the comments here and they'll adjust over time. We need them as our voices into the "organization" that provides what we call eBay, that's the only way things will get identified in a way to ever be prioritized/actioned.

I do think measured doses of attempted levity won't hurt if delivered in the right way, these boards can be depressing places at times....we need them to stay sane as well......

While I certainly agree that we need these eBay Canada reps as a conduit into the world of corporate eBay, I wanted to point out that Rodney is no neophyte. He was around on the boards constantly 4 or 5 (or more) years ago, and really he was the only one whose tone seemed to me a little too sarcastically dismissive. Ironically, I thought the new people did a far better job in terms of approach.

I also think there's a difference between very welcome levity (at no one's personal expense), and an oblique, rather snarky jab at a particular person. The goofy emoticon at the end didn't really excuse the treatment. I don't think most people enjoy being on the butt end of this kind of personally-directed humour.

Remember too, that Rodney no doubt is familiar with the sometimes difficult discussions that went on between that poster and Raphael over a number of months. It almost seemed to me as if Rodney just wanted to make sure he got the first volley in from the very start, i.e. there is history here.

I had the impression Raphael honestly understood and respected the tough job we Canadian sellers have in staying afloat. I did however enjoy the kinds of quips and good natured jokes Raphael used to engage in -- they were fun, and I'm sure as you say, it helped to take some of the pressure off.

On the other hand, when I think of their comfortable salaries compared with mine in the present circumstances on eBay, I think I'm the one who needs to stay sane. Or is it already too late for me? (P.S. that's a joke).

ricarmic · ‎05-17-2017

Hi Rose!

Although I still believe if we were together in a room, the way it would have been presented probably would not have seemed so disrespectful, I agree that some aren't in fact new and one would expect more experience in that regard.

Perhaps our writings here will help.

PS despite taking an 50% plus reduction in income, and moving from a comfortable salary to what I have today, I do not miss those days in the support world.....

tyler@ebay · ‎05-18-2017

@pocomocomputing wrote:

I did remember that the Weekly Session was restarting today but alas I thought it would be in the old established format of being open overnight to accumulate posts and responded to on a time available basis by the eBay "blues".

I guess that being open more than 1 hour will be one of my first suggestions next week and I will set my phone with an alarm to remember specifically. I found it so easy to post with the 24 hour period open topic as well as interact to replies by eBay in the 24 hours.

In the old days, in the one hour format I had to set an alarm and I had to add all my questions into a document on my desktop computer over the week so I could make several copy and paste posts in a few minutes in the extremely short 1 hour open period.

I wold suggest that anyone willing to post issues next week that they prepare in a similar manner.

Or perhaps we should revive mj's issues topic when made in the months the weekly session was absent to accumulate issues again and someone make sure they get posted to the short 1 hour session if the OP of the issue cannot make the short 1 hour period.

Great feedback, and a good suggestion @pocomocomputing. As we get back into a routine that works for everyone there will be some shifting to be sure, so thank you for sharing and please continue to do so. 🙂

We'll get a thread opened Tuesday evening so you can post then and overnight, and then take time to respond on Wednesday.

Tyler,

hlmacdon · ‎05-18-2017

Generally it isn't much fun to be on the receiving end of updates or to be the person announcing them. Have been on both sides and have the scars to prove it. I think what is different with this update is there are a lot of sellers that are going to be in a bit of a bother as this is the first time they've had to seriously consider the decision to register for GST/HST collection and formalize what has been till now a hobbyist/casual business as a small supplier. There are other issues that surround that other than the administrative/reporting side, and some will be nervous about the prospect of charging taxes in categories where they will be competing with those who do not.

The changes to TRS discount rates and qualifying criteria pile on to that and there are quite a few sellers in cases where their selling category may have items that are stuck in a weird position, either too large to ship via the affordable shipping hack (lettermail) and with an ASP that is low enough that sales to Canada via Canada Post parcel remain a difficult value proposition for potential customers. This class of sellers likely has a bulk of their volume to the US market leveraging light/small packet and is probably the group that will be most effected. Ebay would probably classify these sellers are edge cases, but I suspect they will be the most vocal. It is one of the more challenging selling scenarios to participate in as it is, with the challenges that are associated with shipping via untracked methods. For that class of sellers the impact of the recent rounds of seller updates has been a cumulative one.

Anonymous · ‎05-18-2017

@rose-dee wrote:

For one thing, I really didn't appreciate Rodney's sarcasm. At least that's a behaviour that Raphael didn't often indulge in.

It's not helpful when sellers are upset (and rightfully so) about so many worrisome issues, to have eBay Canada reps act so flippantly. It isn't their immediate livelihoods that are in question. I didn't get the impression there was much understanding for what is going on out here "in the trenches". Spin, rinse, repeat.

Sorry you feel that way rose-dee.

It's sometimes tough to know what to say in response to questions that appear to be rhetorical in nature. I try to lighten things up when I can. I know that's always risky on a chat board. I should have guessed some members wouldn't find it funny.

Going forward, when we've got posts on the weekly PM thread that don't appear to be serious questions, or are posed in an overly negative way, we may just opt not to respond. I will try to be funny from time to time, and hopefully I won't offend anyone in doing so.

We do put ourselves kind of out in the firing line when we come out here, and I understand that there are sellers who are incredibly frustrated with eBay - and perhaps even with me personally - who want to take advantage of that and bring their frustrations to us. I don't take the frustrations of Canadian sellers lightly.