Welcome to the general eBay Q&A session on 09/10/2024 at 2:00 PM

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community-team@ebay eBay Team

eBay Team0 View listings

Posted 1 year ago · Edited 1 year ago·Last reply 1 year ago

30 comments

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

The @community-team@ebay would like to thank you for today’s Q&A session. If any questions still come up that you’d like clarified before the next eBay Q&A session, or if you didn’t have enough time for another post / answer, please start a new topic and tag the eBay Community Team as follows:

@miriam@ebay

@patrick@ebay

and me for all eBay community-related questions

@steffi@ebay

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romach_gebrauchtwaren

·1 year ago

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What projects are currently underway to make uploading and also downloading offers easier?
e.g. transfer from ebay.de to ebay.at (including photos, description, etc.) Is this already possible automatically? I only know the Excel file for bulk upload. Will this also be replaced by a more convenient option? e.g. uploading the photos to a host is not technically possible for everyone. I’m out at that point. I’ve already been banging my head against the program code for the item description (I think in SQL), but now it looks pretty okay. Thanks a lot,

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@romach_gebrauchtwaren wrote:

Which projects are currently underway to make uploading and also downloading listings easier?
e.g. transfer from ebay.de to ebay.at (incl. photos, description, etc.) Is this already possible automatically? I only know the Excel file for bulk upload. Will this also be replaced by a more convenient option? e.g. uploading the photos with a host isn’t technically possible for everyone. I’m out at that point. I’m already grinding my teeth over the program code for the item description (I think in SQL), but now it looks pretty okay. Thanks very much,

Hello @romach_gebrauchtwaren ,

a good question that can’t be answered here and now. But I can pass your thoughts along as insight or feedback. We also rarely get advance information about what plans or changes are coming up.

Best regards

Patrick

romach_gebrauchtwaren

·1 year ago

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Hello, I’d like to know why, as an Austrian seller, I was forced to enter a German VAT ID number when selling on the ebay.de site. I am not liable for tax in Germany. My place of residence and my shipping both operate from Austria. My tax advisor has also confirmed this to me. I am a small business owner in Austria and don’t even need a VAT ID number in AT. Why do I need a German VAT ID number to list on ebay.de? After all, I don’t need a VAT ID number on ebay.at either. That’s bureaucracy! Now I also have to do the Elster advance VAT return every quarter and always enter 0. How pointless is that, please? I look forward to a tax-law-correct answer, as I can’t find one on the Ebay pages. Thank you very much.

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@romach_gebrauchtwaren wrote:

Hello, I’d like to know why, as an Austrian seller, I was forced to provide a German VAT ID number when selling on ebay.de. I am not liable for tax in Germany. My residence and shipping are both from Austria. My tax advisor also confirmed this to me. I am a small business owner in Austria and don’t even need a VAT ID number in AT. Why do I need a German VAT ID number to list on ebay.de? I don’t need a VAT ID number on ebay.at either. That’s bureaucracy! Now I also have to do the Elster advance VAT return every quarter and always enter 0. How pointless is that, please? I look forward to a tax-law-correct answer, since I can’t find one on the eBay pages. Thank you very much.

Hello @romach_gebrauchtwaren

I’ll have to follow up on this myself later after the Q&A session. How or why the process is the way it is.
I would then edit this reply of mine and provide an update.

*Update*

Hello @romach_gebrauchtwaren

VAT in Germany

Who is required to confirm the use of the One-Stop-Shop procedure or to provide additional VAT ID numbers?

You sell goods to private individuals within the EU. You ship these goods from one EU country, e.g. Germany, to another EU country, and your cross-border deliveries within the EU generate total sales of more than 10,000 euros per year across all sales channels.
- Then you need either a local VAT ID for each delivery country
  or
- the VAT ID of the country in which you participate in the special taxation procedure for intra-EU distance sales (One-Stop-Shop, OSS), e.g. Germany, and through which you declare your respective EU sales.
You sell goods to private individuals in an EU member state (where you are not established). You ship these goods from a warehouse in that respective EU member state.
Please check with your tax advisor whether you need a local VAT registration, or whether you can declare your sales there via the special taxation procedure for intra-EU distance sales (One-Stop-Shop, OSS)

Best regards
Patrick

murmu67

·1 year ago

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Hello @community-team@ebay @patrick@ebay

I keep trying to help other members with my experience, but I can only contribute something via private messages.

Some time ago I also had contact with steffi@ebay and tried to apply as a mentor.

The reply I got back really surprised me.

I supposedly had too few solutions in my account.

How is that supposed to work if only mentors can answer questions and concerns in the community?

To get it out of the way right away, I tried it with different browsers and the cache is empty. The field for "Replies" doesn't exist at all.

Has eBay removed something here or tried to improve something that is now gone completely?

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@murmu67 wrote:

Hello @community-team@ebay @patrick@ebay

I keep trying to help other members with my experience, but I can only contribute something through private messages.

A while ago I also had contact with steffi@ebay and tried to apply as a mentor.

The reply that came back really surprised me.

I apparently had too few solutions on the account.

How is that supposed to work if only mentors can answer questions and concerns in the community?

Just to be clear upfront, I tried it with different browsers and the cache is empty. The field for "replies" doesn't even exist.

Has Ebay removed something here or tried to improve something that is now gone completely?

Hello @murmu67 ,

in the Members helping members area, only recognized mentors, our support team, and we as the community team can reply. You can establish yourself in the community in the respective discussion area. There are also many topics and questions there where you can prove yourself.

Best regards

Patrick

murmu67

·1 year ago

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Hello patrick@ebay

Thanks for the tip. 👍

Of course I didn’t see this discussion area.

I just found something there where I can share my experience.😁

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@murmu67 wrote:

Hello patrick@ebay

Thanks for the tip. 👍

I naturally didn’t see this discussion area.

I’ve just found something there where I can share my experience.😁

Hello @murmu67 ,

Great, I’m glad to hear that. Yes, I know that in the MhM area there’s naturally quite a bit more going on, where your fingers start itching. But for the beginning, just try to prove yourself in the discussion areas.

Best regards

Patrick

anschuro

·1 year ago

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Hello Patrick,

and one more question: while preparing drafts, I noticed that I can no longer specify multiple shipping options like I used to, but only one. However, I would like to leave my customers the choice to opt, at their own risk, for cheaper, uninsured shipping with basic tracking and not just the expensive option. How can I make that work now?

Thanks and best regards,

anschuro

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@anschuro wrote:

Hello Patrick,

and one more question: when preparing drafts, I noticed that I can no longer specify several shipping options like before, but only one. However, I would still like to give my customers the choice to opt, at their own risk, for cheaper, uninsured shipping with basic shipment tracking and not just the expensive option. How can I make that work now?

Thanks and regards,

anschuro

Hello @anschuro ,

have you already switched to the extended settings tool?
Otherwise, you can also set it up via shipping conditions.

Best regards

Patrick

anschuro

·1 year ago

View listings

Hello Patrick,

I haven't heard anything about the advanced settings tool yet, how can I switch to it?

Regards,

anschuro

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@anschuro wrote:

Hello Patrick,

I haven’t heard anything about the advanced settings tool yet, how do I switch to it?

Best,

anschuro

Hello @anschuro ,

if you’re in the settings tool, there’s a little gear in the top right, there you can usually switch over or the button is visible, like in my example.

Best regards

Patrick

bogumila555

·1 year ago

View listings

Hello, if you don’t have an EPR number for France, are the offers in France hidden? Best regards

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@bogumila555 wrote:
Hello, if you don’t have an EPR number for France, will the offers in France be hidden then? Regards

Hello @bogumila555 ,

this might help you: Compliance with the French EPR regulation at eBay: step by step for uploading your UINs

Best regards

Patrick

bogumila555

·1 year ago

View listings

I've already read that a few times, but it doesn't answer my question.
2-3 years ago I had a lot of buyers from France, now only sporadically.
I even got two offers for registration in France from companies in Germany. Base fees between €570 and €1090 plus disposal costs per item! Crazy. For small sellers, you can pretty much write off France altogether.

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@bogumila555 wrote:
I have already read that a few times, but it doesn't answer my question.
2-3 years ago I had many buyers from France, now only sporadically.
I even got two offers for registration in France from companies in Germany. Base fees between €570 and €1090 plus disposal costs per item! Crazy. For small sellers, you can pretty much write off France altogether.

Hi @bogumila555 ,

it could well be, as with LUCID, that the offers in eBay.fr are then not displayed.
But you would also find out by eBay.fr informing you. Their EPRs are unfortunately a bit stricter than those in DE.

Best regards

Patrick

anschuro

·1 year ago

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Hello Patrick,

I've been annoyed for quite a while because: a buyer didn't pay, the sale was canceled. Fine so far, but in the rating system this transaction is still left there. Why on earth am I supposed to positively rate a buyer who didn't pay??

A scan of the cancellation with all details is attached.

I'd be happy if this transaction would finally disappear from the rating system...

Thanks and regards,

anschuro

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@anschuro wrote:

Hello Patrick,

I've been annoyed for quite a while now because: a buyer didn't pay, and the sale was canceled. That's fine so far, but in the rating system this transaction still remains for me. Why on earth should I now give a positive rating to a buyer who didn't pay??

A scan of the cancellation with all details is attached.

I would be happy if this transaction would finally disappear from the rating system...

Thanks and regards,

anschuro

Hello @anschuro ,

I had to remove your attachment; please note for screenshots like this that the buyer must be anonymized in this case.

What exactly do you mean by the rating? I don't see anywhere in your account that you're being asked to do this. At least for this order, please help me out here or explain it to me again exactly. I can only see 2 open ratings that have already been sent. Or do you mean the service status / service statistics ?

Best regards

Patrick

anschuro

·1 year ago

View listings

Hello Patrick,

when I go to the rating view under "Leave feedback", the buyer is still there. The only old one that hasn’t been rated. Order no. 135162904453-0 from 04/08/2024.

I already asked last week for a solution to the problem with the supposedly still open ratings for shipped cases (in the seller cockpit), because every time I try to leave feedback, I only get an error message. So far, unfortunately, no success.

Thanks and best,

anschuro

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@anschuro wrote:

Hello Patrick,

if I go via the review view in "Leave feedback", the buyer is still there. The only old one that hasn’t been rated. Order no. 135162904453-0 from 04.08.2024.

I already asked for a solution last week about the problem with the supposedly still open reviews for shipped cases (in Seller Cockpit), because every time I try to leave a review, I just get an error message. Unfortunately no success so far.

Thanks and best,

anschuro

Hello @anschuro ,

Okay, I actually can’t view that section, so I can’t reproduce it either. I’ll try to find out over the next few days whether the process is normal. Thanks a lot already for the question, even if I can’t answer or solve it within the hour now.

Kind regards

Patrick

feelgooddealssh

·1 year ago

View listings

Hello Patrick,

we also know the same problem with the ratings for cancelled purchases. Right now, we also have one like that in there. You can only leave a positive rating or report the buyer.

At some point, though, it won’t be shown anymore. But I agree with anschuro that it’s annoying.

Best regards

Stephi

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@feelgooddealssh wrote:

Hello Patrick,

we also know the same problem with the ratings for canceled purchases. Right now we also have one like that listed. You can only rate positively or report the buyer.

At some point, though, it won’t be shown anymore. I agree with anschuro, though, that it’s annoying.

Best regards

Stephi

Hello @feelgooddealssh ,

it will certainly be removed after X days. That’s why I’ll take you both as an example and ask whether there might not be a possible adjustment for the future. You’re not wrong after all — why rate it if no sale has actually taken place in that sense.

Best regards

Patrick

mmstore74

·1 year ago

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Hello @community-team@ebay @patrick@ebay

My question today, and I mean it seriously.

Why does eBay prevent or block messages that point to contact details?

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@mmstore74 wrote:

Hello @community-team@ebay @patrick@ebay

My question today, and it’s a serious one.

Why does eBay prevent or block messages that point to contact details?

Hello @mmstore74 ,

there are a few points here that make sense logically.
For one, these details usually do not need to be communicated via message.
Furthermore, handling things outside of eBay is neither protected nor supported.

And it’s simply not allowed, see here:

Policy on sharing contact information

Best regards

Patrick

mmstore74

·1 year ago

View listings

@patrick@ebay

I’m familiar with the principle, but I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.

1. eBay doesn’t make anything from private sellers anyway, and if they handle something outside eBay, that’s their business, and eBay would be out of the picture anyway.

2. With every trustworthy commercial seller, you can

Name

Address

Hair color, shoe size ( joke )

and even phone number and email address, and that wouldn’t be a problem for a buyer to contact me directly like that.

But seriously now @patrick@ebay . There are also people who aren’t that familiar with the eBay maze, or are completely new and don’t know where they would find this data, since some things could be clarified better and faster with a phone call.

Why should I write like 50 messages (I recently had a case like that) when it could also be done really quickly by phone.

Even if someone wants more pictures and I can only ever upload 5, I’d need, let’s say, 3–4 messages for another 15–20 pictures, or one email.

And if eBay is afraid of losing money because people can sell things differently, then they should just bring back fees for everyone

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@mmstore74 wrote:

@patrick@ebay

I know the principle, but I don’t understand the point behind it.

1. eBay doesn’t earn anything from private sellers anyway, and if they handle something outside of eBay, that’s their business, and eBay would be out of it anyway.

2. With every trustworthy business seller, you can

Name

Address

Hair color, shoe size (just kidding)

and even see phone number and email address, and that would still not be a problem for a buyer to contact me directly like that.

But seriously now @patrick@ebay .There are also people who aren’t so familiar with eBay’s maze and/or are completely new and don’t know where they would find this data, since some things could be clarified better and faster by phone.

Why should I write what feels like 50 messages (I had such a case recently) when it can also be done very quickly by phone.

Even if someone wants more pictures and I can only upload 5 at a time, I’d need, let’s say, 3 - 4 messages for 15 - 20 more pictures, and just one email.

And if eBay is afraid of losing money because people can sell things elsewhere, then they should just reintroduce fees for everyone

Hello @mmstore74 ,

Fees would probably rather lead to people trying to sell outside of eBay.
Exactly, the data for business sellers can be accessed elsewhere, so it’s not necessary via messages. You can’t really train the messaging system so that it lets everything through for business sellers and has to filter everything for private sellers. There are many factors involved, including data protection, etc.

Please give me an example where you would have had to share contact details and it was prevented.

Best regards

Patrick

mmstore74

·1 year ago

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Take a look @patrick@ebay and these aren’t even all the messages from one buyer

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

@mmstore74 wrote:

Take a look @patrick@ebay and these aren’t even all the messages from one buyer

Hello @mmstore74 ,

I also meant cases, for example, where an exchange of data would also have been necessary.
Personally, I can’t think of an example.

Best regards

Patrick

patrick@ebay

Admin1 year ago

Community TeamView listings

Hello and a warm welcome to today's Q&A session.

But today I'm on my own, the ladies probably had something better to do. 😋

Best regards

Patrick