WHY IS A MESSAGE I SENT TO A BUYER NOT APPEARING IN MY 'SENT' MESSAGE FOLDER ?

[fergua3]

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??

[kawartha-ephemera]

@ricarmic 

Quote. "I checked my inbox more fully, 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)." Unquote.

That's not a bug, it's a feature. I'm not surprised that new users are finding the Inbox and sent folders / filters confusing, the first is incorrectly labelled and the second is not really relevant to threaded text message communication. Most likely the inclusion of those 2 folders is an attempt to molllify those resistant to change, unfortunately their presence just causes confusion.

Try not to reference email habits when using this, it's not email so try not to think in terms of received and sent, aka inbox and sent folders.

Desktop folders / filters:

INBOX. This is misleading, the name implies that only messages received from others are included here. The implication is untrue, The correct filter name should be  ALL MESSAGES, meaning messages of all origins, both sent and received are included here, it does not matter  who initiated the conversation. Absolutely everything is included here.

SENT. Irrelevant, not used or needed in a text message system

[msau4301]

That is a good way to describe it, a "text messaging system" is exactly what the new method looks like. Just like on my phone all texts are just there in "messages" they aren't broken up as you say. But at least with phone texts though (Apple not eBay) if a message doesn't got through it immediately gives a "message not delivered" and asks you to try again. Would be handy if that showed up for us. I agree with fergua that if for some reason AI is blocking anything from being sent we should be notified, otherwise we just have to assume it was sent and the receiver didn't bother to respond.

[fergua3]

that does not explain why all the other messages i've sent on the new message system, both responses and initiated contact,  ARE showing up in my sent folder, but the ones i have sent to this buyer alone are not.

I still have not heard beck from this buyer, after sending 4 messages, the last one asking him to confirm receiving the others.  They are also still not in my sent folder.   The only conclulsion can be is that they were not sent. 

Unless i get action today i am going to leave my message to my buyer as positive feedback and will add an explanation as to why i am leaving it that way.   I am sick of this garbage new message system that has been foisted upon us.

[kawartha-ephemera]

For sure an immediate "message not sent" warning would be appropriate whenever a message fails to send. Alternatively,  if for some reason a message just sent does not immediately appear in blue, you know that it failed to send. For this reason it should not be necessary to check a sent folder to confirm a message was sent, on the app this behaviour is strait forward and obvious to all. On desktop though, with so much vacant white space everywhere and the extra redundant folders, the user experience is muddled and dreadful. This last year or so, I seldom use the desktop for messaging, i just pickup the phone or tablet as it is so much better in this regard

[pjcdn2005]

@fergua3 

If you are seeing your message on the main message/inbox page and it is in blue, I'm sure that it has been sent.   As I mentioned the other day, the last message I sent was also not showing in the sent file.   But yesterday the buyer sent a reply so they obviously did get it and now it is showing in the sent file.  Since the other ones I sent did not get a reply and are already in the sent file, perhaps it takes a few days to get there if there is no response??

it's an odd system on a pc but it does seem to be similar to what I see on my phone when I text.  There are no separate sent boxes etc on my text messages and that seems to be how this one is set up.   When the new system came out on ,com a while ago, there was no sent box then so it is something they've added, perhaps because sellers didn't like not having it.  

I'm also not seeing a copy sent to my email even when I check it off.   I will ask a .com seller who has used the system for a while to see if it is working the same on that site and will let you know.

[pjcdn2005]

Other sellers have mentioned being notified if a message is blocked by AI so I do t think the op's messages are being blocked.

[fergua3]

hm.....well that is helpful info.   All the messages i've sent the buyer are blue and obviously i received no message form Ebay saying any of them were blocked. 

It's just strange the buyer hasn't gotten back to me.  He is very engaged with Ebay.  Buys items every day, leaves feedback for every purchase as far as i can tell.   So you'd think he'd at least respond to my last message asking him to respond to me.

Of course if the strike would just ""expletive"" end i could just ship the thing and it would still get there within a reasonable time frame......packages are absolutely flying through the USPS system right now.  But they have to get to the US first...

[pjcdn2005]

I goofed!  The send copy to email message is working.  I was looking at the wrong email address when I checked it. Duh! 

[devon@ebay]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@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.

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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. 

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! I will be sure to have this shared with the Product team as I have seen this on both the US and Canada boards and the confusion it has caused. 

[devon@ebay]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@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?

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! The eBay messaging system only works within eBay itself. It is not a valid email address that can be used outside of eBay. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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devon@ebay wrote:

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

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@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?

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Hi @lotzofuniquegoodies! The eBay messaging system only works within eBay itself. It is not a valid email address that can be used outside of eBay. 

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devon@ebay  This is what I a feeling was in play. A VALID email is required for customs...Especially for Intl although to USA would be a bonus and also required for assisting postal services when either an MIA package is in play or for damage claims. There are no guarantees that any number on file is valid. Without this info it makes any claims die a very slow death causing a seller to not get reimbursed which is part 2 of this equation. The email works as a backup.  A valid email is ALSO required for courier shipments. Has been for years. How are sellers supposed to work around this issue?

-Lotzofuniquegoodies.

As a side this was passed on to Tyler before you, who I believe we were told forwarded to tech but appears it was never resolved.