August 2 2017 Weekly Session

[tyler@ebay]

Howdy everyone,

Getting back in gear after eBay Open last week, thanks for bearing with me as I catch up on messages and emails!

Opening up the thread for our Weekly Chat Session for August 2, 2017. This thread will be open until tomorrow, so please post any questions or subjects for which you would like eBay support.

Please find the below table of open issues with the latest updates, as well as what we need in order to pursue them further. My time on the boards is limited, so I can't do as much digging as I'd like, so I really appreciate the effort that you've made to get me information - thank you!

Issue	Status	Latest Update	Action taken/Next Steps
Search results page shows shipping costs inconsistent with what's on the item pages	Need clarification/examples	"Shipping not matching is not a bug if it's a GSP item"	Need more examples/information, let us know
Shipping Calculator returning erroneous rates	Open/no updates	"In order to test further we need current examples of this."	Need more examples/information, let us know
Selling limits live items count discrepancy	Open/no updates	Ticket Updated	Waiting for tech team's response
Handling times not being added properly	Open/no updates	No update at this point	Waiting for tech team's response
Shipping Cost Cannot Be Calculated Error On Us/int'l Sites For CA Listings	Open/no updates	"This ticket is still open and being reviewed."	Waiting for tech team's response
Seller Hub shipping reminders on items that have been marked as shipped on eBay.ca	Report Filed	Ticket Filed	Waiting for tech team's response
Selling Manager Pro/mobile app disconnect (alerts popping up even though shipped)	Report Filed	Ticket Filed/Root cause to be fixed	None - will be removed going forward
Guides written on .UK are now missing without a trace	Report Filed	Ticket Filed	Waiting for tech team's response

[reallynicestamps]

Another member had this question about Shippo and Notice of Sale emails.

The last couple of days, the e-mails I've received simply state "Congratulations, your item sold and it's been paid for."  It shows the item, the price, the buyer's User I.D. and a link to Shippo (which platform isn't mandatory of course).  I knew I would eventually have to use Shippo but was postponing it ....

Since all my items are IPR, I don't know what the "sold" e-mail looks like when payment has not yet been made.

This isn't a big issue but I'm curious to know why eBay introduced this change and who it benefits, if anyone.  Anyone venture a guess?

[reallynicestamps]

If a seller is required to send Return Shipping to an unhappy buyer, but the buyer is in a different country, can we print a Shippo! label from another nation's postal system?

Even if only USPS shipping labels were possible, it would be a huge relief for Canadian sellers and a big selling point for Shippo! over Snap/ship labels which are Canada Post only.

Terry Pratchett — 'Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.' .

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

I have been having a problem with combined shipping. People from Canada & the US are paying for all their items seperately instead of asking for combined shipping or waiting for me to send a combined invoice. I end up refunding them the overcharge. But in the meantime I have been charged seperate final value shipping fees on all the items. eBay doesn't know I have refunded them & so I never get reimbursed for the overcharges. I don't think that is fair.

[momcqueen]

My proposition may well illicit a chorus of groans from other members here but I would REALLY like to see an option at the Shopping Cart checkout where buyers could opt to purchase gift-wrapping from their seller.

I hold no great love of wrapping gifts but as a toy seller, I could see how this would be a feature buyers might really appreciate having the option to purchase on checkout around Christmas and for birthdays.

Sellers could opt in, of course, as they chose and then set a $5 (for example) charge to do so.

Pretty please? 

[momcqueen]

Technical error being experienced by some buyers as they seek and attempt to bid are being reported. This is one thread only; there have been others. The users say it is specific to ebay Canada. If so, this would be detrimental to ebay Canada sellers. 

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Site-Issues/Error-INET-E-REDIRECT-FAILED/m-p/380600#M3775

[momcqueen]

My final point of harassment for the week:

As I understand it, Ebay.com is adopting a new feature where buyers can search for item that can be delivered to them within a certain timeframe. Like four business days, based on their location and the location of the seller in question.

Yet on ebay.ca, our Shipping Calculator returns the same delivery estimate regardless of what postal code a user enters, even if they happen to live in the furthermost remote locations of Canada where Expedited Parcel takes at minimum 13 days to arrive, a week longer than the one to seven (if the seller ships same-day) seen by users across the site.

Why does ebay.com get preferential treatment when we are still working with a Shipping Estimate Calculator which only half-works?

When will it finally be fixed?

The estimator itself is misleading: "Estimated delivery dates - opens in a new window or tab include seller's handling time, origin Postal/ZIP Code, destination Postal/ZIP Code and time of acceptance and will depend on shipping service selected and receipt of cleared payment- opens in a new window or tab. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods."

That's simply not the case. A user can enter their own postal code and instead of getting a delivery estimate of one business day, they see the generic answer. And a buyer form Nunavut can enter their postal code and instead of seeing the true Canada Post delivery standard of 13 business days, see only that it will take one to seven. 

As a seller who ships same-day to many buyers in Canada, I pride myself on speedy delivery. I can't meet the expectations being falsely set in some cases, and far exceed them in others. 

Canadian buyers deserve accurate delivery standards as they shop here.

Oh, and welcome back. 

[musicyouneed]

I would like to know what can we do about a buyer that states that their items are located in Toronto Canada when they are in fact in the US.  This is the thread.  

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Buyer-Central/Item-Location-Misrepresentation-Help/m-p/380532#M35084

This seller has received numerous feedback from buyers both negative and neutral regarding not being in Canada.  Buyers are purchasing from this seller specifically because they are in Canada and do not have to pay duty.  

I can send you the sellers name but this is some of the feedback they received regarding location. 

[fashionoutletdeal]

Thank you to bring this up .I had been calling ebay for this few times today i spoke with 2 supervisors and one manager .Guess from where and i got 2 warnings .I got blamed for my accent but they do ZERO because is there internal job.Best CS ever (rolling my eyes) Thats why the trafic here lately its going down and down .IM FUMING they left me speechless will never call again .When they bring the CS here than we will be happy and things will be in order.

[thewoodguy1]

Hello Tyler,

I would like ebay to remove the 'Collectible/Fashion Only' restrictions from the 250 auction listings that are part of the basic store subscription. 

Why is that the folks who sell 'Collectibles/Fashions get a better value for their store subscription dollar than the rest of us?  Why does eBay have to play favorites?  Ebay gets just as much FVF from my sales dollar as the 'Collectible/Fashion' vendors. The current situation grants financial advantage to the 'Collectible/Fashion' group and not the rest of us? Why?

Ebay sends out the free auction listing promotions (some have restrictions, some do not) every now and then.  For myself, these impromptu listing offers are very hard to plan around. Rarely can I take full advantage of them. To look at it differently, if ebay would just make it fair for everybody and remove the restrictions on the basic store auction listings it would make it so much better for the sellers to do better planning and increase the number of listing per month. 

If there is a legitimate reason for giving one group preferential treatment please explain it to me so that I may understand.

This bee has buzzing around in my bonnet since the first day. The 500 basic stores listing should be open to all without any weasel clauses.

My 2 common sense coins,

FAR

[dutchman48]

Will Seller Hub be able to handle multiple selling accounts (ID's) and selling on multiple Ebay sites; say Canada and the US using 3 ID's?

What if a country does not have Seller Hub?

If Seller Hub can't handle this, maybe they should maintain Turbo Lister as it can.

It would be a real disadvantage to all sellers using multiple ID's and sites if Seller Hub won't do it

[thewoodguy1]

This problem has been going on for years, I am happy to hear another voice speak up.

Thank you,

Fred

[sylviebee]

I’m having an ongoing issue with the coupon for eBay Shipping Supplies.

My coupon is for C$70, but when I try to spend it and my total is less than $70 I’m still charged extra by the system.

That is: My total might be C$65, but I’m charged the full $70 plus a few more dollars out of my PP account.
I think it might have something to do with the rate of exchange but that’s just purely a guess.

I tried to take this up with the Americans running the site we buy from, but they have no idea what I’m talking about because they can’t see these extra charges at their end.

However, PP is able to see the discrepancy and last time they took care of it for me and refunded the overpayment, but I don’ want to go through the headache of explaining all that again.

Last time I spent way to much time trying to get if corrected and so I’m really miffed to see the same thing is happening again with the most recent coupon.

Can you help fix the problem?

[lloybrau_6]

This comment is for Amir. Two weeks ago somebody asked you if Ebay has "rolling blackouts". You basically said no. I personally don't like the term but this a term that sellers use the most. But the reality is this, many sellers have experienced consecutive sales to one region in the world, then to one region in the US, and so on. There are too many sellers that have this experience. With all due respect, you don't sell on Ebay the way others do so you don't quite understand how it is to be a seller.

Also, I don't expect you to read the entire Ebay User Agreement, but Ebay does not show sellers listings all the time. I know you have been with Ebay for a year and you might not know the history, but sellers listings are not always visible. This is probably why sellers will experience a bunch of sales in one local area. For example, listing might be visible in Europe but not in the USA. Sometimes listings are not visible at all. You might be saying to yourself that this is ridiculous but here's what it says in the User Agreement under Listing Conditions:   

"Accordingly, to drive a positive user experience, a listing may not appear in some search and browse results regardless of the sort order chosen by the buyer."

In other words, we don't show your listings. all the time.I think this came into affect in 2013.

While ecommerce is growing quickly, Ebay's growth is well below the industry average. The now 10% (once 20%) FVF Discount will soon be 5% or 0%. Taking 10% of the lowest domestic shipping rate from sellers is just an example of the partnership one must have to sell on Ebay. Use accordingly. 

[lady.stark]

On July 12, I asked this question:

On my dashboard, the number of transactions for "Late shipment rate" is different than all the other sections... why?

Tyler replied:

I'm not certain why that would be off the top of my head - will you send me a PM so I can take a look at this in more detail?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote you in private - twice - but never got an answer....

[gwrocen]

 

We received an email message from eBay on July 26.

It appears that we are about to lose our TRS status because lately we failed

to upload a tracking number for 5 items – 5 out of 21 to be exact.

These were Letters and Small Packets for which tracking numbers are NEVER available

and were mailed to buyers in the USA and, as a result, we are told,

“you have fallen behind on tracking upload goals set for all Top Rated Sellers

in the US region”. (quote from the message)

For example - we sold a $5.00 paper item and shipping was $3.00 (lettermail) to California. 

How odd that when given the choice, the buyer refused to upgrade to shipping with a tracking number

by paying for other services where tracking is available such as

Registered Mail which is available from Canada Post (only via Xpresspost USA service)

at a cost of $24.92 or by Tracked Packet at $18.00 or by Expedited Parcel at $21.00. 

The situation was similar for the 4 other items we shipped by lettermail and Small Packet

that is bringing us to losing TRS.

Two questions:

With the above in mind, how can we avoid losing our TRS status after 19 years on eBay

and thousands of sales because we did not upload 5 tracking numbers

which are not available from Canada Post for the CHEAPER shipping services

which the buyers seem to prefer?  How can we provide a  tracking number

when one cannot be purchased for the shipping service the buyer is willing to pay for?

AND -

Why are we considered to be in the US region even though we are in Canada? (see quote above)

How did that affect our TRS and the pending loss of same?

[lady.stark]

---

@thewoodguy1 wrote:

Hello Tyler,

I would like ebay to remove the 'Collectible/Fashion Only' restrictions from the 250 auction listings that are part of the basic store subscription. 

---

Even if I mainly sell collectibles, I totally agree with you. I have many magazines and books that I would like to try at auction first. But I can't because of this restriction. 😞

[msmaggie060]

I have only been able to make one label using Shippo. Since July 23rd I have not been able to use them. I have sent emails and was told that the tech team is looking into it. Unless I email them I get no updates and I need to have an answer. I have set up everything correctly at my end, I have had a CP Small Business number for years and it is valid. The first label printed okay, since then nothing. Please advise whom I can get in touch with at Shippo to have this problem solved as the customer service person doesn't seem to be able to help. I know I can use other methods to get labels but I shouldn't have to and prefer to use PayPal to pay for the labels.

Thank you.

[msmaggie060]

I didn't mean that I have a print problem, the problem is that none of my sales show up on Shippo. I even tried to add a pkg to ship to my daughter last night and I couldn't do that either.

[bunbar]

I am going on vacation later today and I'm wondering how I will be affected by the new ebay thing that says on each sold item "Must be shipped by" I will be gone for 2 weeks and will be sending buyers a reminder that I will be gone for 2 weeks as it says on my item pages. What happens if item doesn't get shipped by the date it says?