eBay

fergua3 · ‎11-20-2024

i'm fuming. Had a small sale. I sent the buyer a message informing him about the strike. A few hours later i checked to make sure my message went through on this crazy new system.

Nothing in my sent message folder. I look in my inbox and the message is there. Does that mean it didn't get sent to the buyer?? I definitely clicked on the little paper airplane icon to send the message after i typed it.

If it is sent, why is it not showing up in my sent message folder??

ricarmic · ‎11-20-2024

I've just been messaging back and forth a few times with a buyer regarding an MIA item.

When I respond to him or vice versa, I have to leave that message "stream" and come back in again for it to show it, try doing that, it doesn't seem to autorefresh.

PS mine are all showing in the "sent" folder, which brings up the whole "stream" of messages.

PSPS if you only sent them a message, it won't be in your "inbox" it will be showing in the "sent" folder.... it looks like the messages look the same "stream wise" regardless where you look at them (if there's more than one sent/received to the same buyer)

wilsonharborsales · ‎11-20-2024

The new message system will flag certain words and will not send to the buyer until a human looks at it in order to prevent sellers from negotiating sales outside of eBay.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-20-2024

When I click on messages it takes me to my inbox where I can see all received and sent messages. For me that is true whether or not there has been more than one message sent or received in that thread. I usually do see the ones I've sent in my sent folder as well but after I read your post I checked my sent box. The last message I sent on on the 15th is only showing in my inbox. Strange.

fergua3 · ‎11-20-2024

i sent my message to the buyer again and copied my email on it. I didn't receive a copy and still nothing in my sent folder. This is great.......a strike on and i have no way of communicating with my buyer about this very important issue.

Here is a copy of my message. What would Ebay flag?

Hello and thank your for your purchase.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Please be advised that i am shipping this item from Canada. At the moment, the Canadian Postal employees are on strike. The strike is expected to be resolved in the next few days. However, as a result, there will be a delay in shipping this item to you. The delay could be a week or so, perhaps longer.If you do not wish to wait, please let me know and i will cancel your order and issue a full refund. If you choose to wait, i will mail your item to you as soon as is possible.

Very sorry for the inconvenience.

andrew

fergua3 · ‎11-20-2024

Do your messages appear in your sent folder when you initiate contact or just when you respond to someone else's message to you?

i've sent my message to the buyer 3 times now and none are appearing in my sent folder. Although i did get a copy of the third one sent to my email.

ricarmic · ‎11-20-2024

I checked my inbox more fully, as PJ mentioned even stuff that I've only sent once with no response from buyer shows in the inbox (don't understand why, it doesn't make sense, perhaps it is a bug).

I looked back to before I closed my store for the strike and the "contact buyer" messages I send for every purchase, they show up in both the inbox and the sent folder.

Things that I see only in the inbox are:

-messages from eBay

-it probably would also include messages from buyers that I haven't responded to (and never originally sent them one). I can't test this one as I almost always respond to a message from a potential/buyer.

(maybe something else I've missed)

fergua3 · ‎11-20-2024

so, a first contact message i sent pre-strike to a buyer which had no response, is showing in my sent folder. The one i sent today (3 times now), which has had no response, is not showing in my sent folder.

It seems among the 3 of us we are all seeing the same thing: that being, messages we have sent after the strike began are NOT showing up in our sent folder, only in our inboxes. Does this mean none of these messages have gone through to the buyers we sent them to?

fergua3 · ‎11-21-2024

i just sent another message and it didn't go through either. What is going on?? Can someone please contact the moderator so he can look into it. I have forgotten how. This needs to be addressed pronto.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-21-2024

@fergua3 wrote:
i just sent another message and it didn't go through either. What is going on?? Can someone please contact the moderator so he can look into it. I have forgotten how. This needs to be addressed pronto.

devon@ebay

Can you look into this please.? Some users it seems to be working fine. Others not so well. It appears there is no longer a way to opt out of the new messaging. There also is no formatting. Would be helpful if a message were the longer variety. Just a suggestion.

msau4301 · ‎11-21-2024

I just sent a message to a buyer this morning and it shows up in my sent messages but it was in response to hers if that makes any difference. Your message most certainly does not contain anything that looks like it would cause it to be flagged. My message also mentions the strike (my buyer was saying she hadn't seen my listings for a while and making sure all was well, it's someone with years of history and a large message history). I think your issue somehow has something to do with your reaching out to her first. Naturally you had to because of the strike (being proactive).

Just wanted to point out all messaging since the strike is not affected (and my message says the word strike also). Perhaps the gradual roll out of the new messaging system is 100% complete now and it has something to do with that for messages initiated by the seller only.

fergua3 · ‎11-21-2024

thanks Lotz.

Sellers must have the abiltity to communicate with buyers, especially with the strike on. This must be fixed immediately, not in a few weeks or months.

fergua3 · ‎11-21-2024

yes, that's my suspicion too. That seller initiated messages are being blocked by Ebay's paranoid AI becasue the seller might be trying to make a deal outside of Ebay. If so, that is a disgrace.

Sellers have to be able to communicate with their buyers.....and they are OUR buyers, not Ebay's. Ebay doesn't sell anything so they don't have any buyers. And sellers must be able to initiate contact to inform, thank and explain. And IF these messages are being blocked, Ebay is doing it without even informing the seller that they did not go through. Also disgraceful.

If we are not going to be allowed to initiate contact then take away the DSR for communication, buy our inventory from us and sell it yourself, Ebay.

marnotom! · ‎11-21-2024

My understanding from other community posts and the test messages I've sent to a couple of you boardies is that the new message system is supposed to be a threaded system emulating what one gets with text messages or systems like Facebook Messenger. There is no "sent" box in the system for new messages (just archived ones) because you don't need one with a threaded system.

Messages you send end up in the "inbox" because there really isn't anywhere appropriate to put them in a system that's also trying to archive messages sent through the old webmail-ish system. The message in the inbox is evidence that you sent the message, but as with the old system, I don't believe there's anything that indicates that the recipient has received and actually read the message.

wilsonharborsales · ‎11-21-2024

Just by mentioning ‘Canada Post’, the AI might think you are trying to make shipping arrangements outside what is offered in the listings.

I have had two warnings from eBay automated message AI. Buyers had asked how I could verify the location of a photo I was selling. I said that I had conducted a reverse image search. My response was blocked by eBay’s AI.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-21-2024

@marnotom! wrote:
My understanding from other community posts and the test messages I've sent to a couple of you boardies is that the new message system is supposed to be a threaded system emulating what one gets with text messages or systems like Facebook Messenger. There is no "sent" box in the system for new messages (just archived ones) because you don't need one with a threaded system.

Messages you send end up in the "inbox" because there really isn't anywhere appropriate to put them in a system that's also trying to archive messages sent through the old webmail-ish system. The message in the inbox is evidence that you sent the message, but as with the old system, Ii don't believe there's anything that indicates that the recipient has received and actually read the message.

@marnotom!

@fergua3

I'm on a PC. Any recent messages I have sent to both buyers and other sellers are showing up in my sent folder. It's very likely for the APP it was designed totally differently. That seems to be how most new or tinkered with features work. I've had numerous discussions lately with others telling me they don't see the same things I am seeing or have access to. On the not helpful side I keep finding dropdowns on a PC that used to work but are now greyed out. (Deactivated). Same goes for help links. Of they will work with one set of search results or but not with another set of results. (Duct tape and chewing gum.)

fergua3 · ‎11-21-2024

so the bottom line is i have no idea if my messages are getting through to the buyer or not.

To the most recent buyer i sent the same message 3 times (didn't mean to but kept forgetting to have a copy sent to my email) PLUS i sent another message asking him to please tell me if he recieved my earlier messages.

No response. Could well be they are being blocked by dumb AI, could be he just hasn't read them yet. But he's a very active user, buys many items per month, so you would think he would have read my messages by now. Again....this needs to be sorted out pronto. Not next week, not in a month or six months. Now.

So another question, for those who have had messages blocked by Ebay, does Ebay at least inform you that they were blocked? So far i have not had any such notification on any of my messages...

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎11-21-2024

@fergua3 wrote:

Before this new version of mail came out you could have a messages you receive get a copy sent to your personal email. Mine goes to my gmail account. In testing now the link for communication with buyers has been deactivated. Unsure if that was accidental or intentional. No longer seeing a way to add a secondary email addy. Speaking quietly to not disrupt the boat, mine are still behaving in that manner.

Yellow - Disabled.

Blue - Working but not all options are fully functional.

Example for blue. Unable to update Edit your Best Offer notification preferences. Be notified when your offer has been submitted or you receive a counteroffer.

https://contact.ca.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ManageBuyerCommunication&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK

devon@ebay Are you able to confirm if eBay email addresses ONLY work within eBay parameters or are also valid with say USPS or international postal services? From a customs perspective they need a valid address to message a customer when there is an issue. Have settings within eBay been deactivated with the mail switchover?

marnotom! · ‎11-21-2024

@fergua3 wrote:

so the bottom line is i have no idea if my messages are getting through to the buyer or not.

A message appearing in the old system's "sent" box is no indication that the message got through to the recipient, though. It's just a copy of the message that you sent.

I can't see why it's not possible to indicate when an eBay message has been theoretically seen by the recipient, though, the way Instagram messages or Facebook messages work.