💬 Welcome to the general eBay Q&A on 12/07/23 at 2:00 PM

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community-team@ebay eBay Team

eBay Team0 View listings

Posted 3 years ago · Edited 2 years ago·Last reply 3 years ago

20 comments

steffi@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

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

@miriam@ebay

and me for all eBay community-related questions

@steffi@ebay

Of course, you can also ask me questions about your Community account or the Community itself via a @steffi@ebay

sc-bauservice

·3 years ago

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Hello,
I’m wondering why it isn’t mandatory on eBay for business sellers to always send an invoice or for me to be able to download it directly. It’s frustrating and time-consuming to keep having to message sellers and check who has responded to my request and who hasn’t. On other platforms, this works without any hassle. With many other shops, it’s possible to request or download an invoice, for example, with a simple click. Why isn’t such an option available on eBay too?

I would like business sellers on eBay to offer similar features. Technically speaking, it should be relatively easy to implement.

Kind regards
Selcuk

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@sc-bauservice wrote:

Hello,
I’m wondering why it isn’t mandatory on eBay for commercial sellers to always send an invoice or for me to be able to download it directly. It’s frustrating and time-consuming to have to keep messaging the sellers and checking who responded to my request and who didn’t. On other platforms, this works without any hassle. With many other shops, it’s possible to request or download an invoice with just a simple click, for example. Why isn’t there such an option on eBay too?

I would like commercial sellers on eBay to offer similar functions. Technically, this should be relatively easy to implement.

Best regards
Selcuk

Hello @sc-bauservice and thanks for your feedback! As a marketplace, we do not sell the items ourselves and therefore cannot issue invoices. It is the responsibility of the commercial sellers to issue invoices. Invoice printing can be done directly via eBay.

We are aware that there is a desire for an automated process so that buyers receive an invoice for every order (from commercial sellers) without having to ask. I have passed your suggestion on once again here and we thank you for it 🙂.

Kind regards

Miriam

petersmodellbahnstuebchen

·3 years ago

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Hi @miriam@ebay hi @steffi@ebay

are there already any new updates on the process for partial refund of shipping costs in the event of cancellation / return of an item from a combined order, see previous Q&A sessions?

Best regards from the Baltic Sea

Peter

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@petersmodellbahnstuebchen wrote:

Hi @miriam@ebay hi @steffi@ebay

Is there any new info yet on the process for partial refunds of shipping costs in the event of a cancellation / return of an item from a group order, see previous Q&As?

Best regards from the Baltic Sea

Peter

Hello @petersmodellbahnstuebchen and thanks for checking in. Unfortunately, there’s still no feedback I can share with you yet. However, your suggestion for improvement has been passed on to the people responsible 👍.

We always use your feedback as a reason to optimize certain processes.

Best regards

Miriam

perfect-sally

·3 years ago

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When does ebay actually do something for commercial sellers?

And specifically, to their advantage?

Only private sellers are always given preferential treatment, and ebay always says: “Commercial sellers will also benefit from this.”

Starting with no fees for private sellers.... to this day I see absolutely no positive effects for commercial sellers, let alone any benefit. Quite the opposite, turnover has noticeably continued to sink further into the basement since March 1.

That is exactly what private sellers are now exploiting so much, to have hundreds if not thousands of items online and constantly masses of new goods.

Does ebay really think the PStTG interests any private seller?

Maybe then, if something is actually reported and they really do get mail from their tax office at some point. In the meantime, however, many commercial sellers have to close up shop and at least give up on ebay, just because private sellers are still being encouraged to flood the market. Here too, I see ebay as being obligated to act and not simply let the priverblichen do as they please with the idea that the PStTG will sort it out at some point anyway. ebay needs to act NOW to stop this.

Now there’s the thing with the automatic return labels, from which the commercial sellers are supposedly going to benefit again according to ebay?

I also see no advantages in that for sellers, only for ebay. And that’s because they apparently can’t manage to make sure customers’ return slips are delivered without problems and, above all, that they can actually find them. You don’t need to pin that on the sellers, because most sellers handle their legitimate returns without any problem and promptly!

I rather see some more grief coming the sellers’ way because this makes it even easier for buyers to send back an item unjustifiably with false claims — and free of charge for buyers!

In my opinion, ebay interferes far too much in sellers’ business.

First payment processing, now return labels (even if you can disable it, just the idea of ebay introducing something like that)....what’s next? Does ebay set the prices for sellers and which shipping method they’re allowed to use? Or what “benefits” come next? We’ll see, said the blind man.

Commercial sellers are currently being disadvantaged to an extreme degree, but ebay doesn’t seem to be taking note of the outcry!

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@perfect-sally wrote:

When is eBay actually going to do something for commercial sellers?

And specifically, to their advantage?

It’s always only the private sellers who are favored, and eBay always says: “Commercial sellers will also benefit from this.”

Starting with no fees for private sellers.... to this day I see absolutely no positive effects for commercial sellers, let alone any benefit at all. Quite the opposite, sales have been noticeably dropping even further since March 1.

That’s exactly what private sellers are now exploiting, to have hundreds if not thousands of items online and constantly tons of new goods.

Does eBay really think that the PStTG interests any private seller?

Maybe then, if something is actually reported and they really do get a letter from their tax office at some point. In the meantime, however, many commercial sellers have to close up shop and at least give up on eBay, just because private sellers are still being encouraged to flood the market. Here too, I see eBay as having a duty to act and not simply let the private-commercial sellers do as they please with the idea that the PStTG will sort it out someday. eBay needs to act NOW to stop this.

Now comes the thing with automatic return labels, from which commercial sellers are supposedly supposed to benefit again according to eBay?

I don’t see any advantages for sellers there either, only for eBay. And that’s because they apparently can’t get it together so that customers’ return slips are delivered without problems and, above all, so that they can actually find them. You don’t need to pin that on sellers, because most sellers process their legitimate returns without any problems and promptly!

I’m more likely to see some trouble coming for sellers again because this will make it even easier to return an item unjustifiably with false information from the buyer – free of charge for buyers!

In my opinion, eBay interferes far too much in sellers’ businesses.

First payment processing, now return labels (even if you can disable it, just the idea of eBay introducing something like this)....what’s next? Will eBay set the prices for sellers and decide which shipping method they’re allowed to use? Or what “benefits” are coming next? We’ll see, said the blind man.

Commercial sellers are currently being disadvantaged to such an extent, but eBay doesn’t seem to be taking notice of the uproar!

Hello @perfect-sally! We don’t like to see that you’re so critical of some of the recent changes and can only partly see the benefits for yourself.

You know that the community is a good place to voice opinions, and I’ll make sure once again that your feedback gets through. In general, though, we want to support you commercial sellers just as much so that you can carry out good business on eBay. The changes are meant to make processes easier and more straightforward for you and for customers, and to keep our marketplace competitive.

Kind regards

Miriam

carino-koeln

·3 years ago

View listings

Hello @miriam@ebay ,

Advantages would be evident from more or at least the same sales figures. Since 23/06, I have had two sales. In both cases, they were repeat customers who reordered tea.

I haven’t experienced anything like this since the shop opened in 2006. None of my listings can be found through the categories. What can be found are some private sellers who sell goods from the same companies that are also to be found in my shop, in large quantities. Thanks to saved taxes and fees, they can even do this at the same selling prices with free shipping. I’m going to look for my rose-colored glasses now. Maybe I can use them to discover the advantages.

Best regards

Ute

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@carino-koeln wrote:

Hello @miriam@ebay ,

Advantages would have to be reflected in higher or at least the same sales figures. Since 23/06, I’ve had two sales. In both cases, they were repeat buyers who reordered tea.

I haven’t experienced anything like this since the shop opened in 2006. None of my listings can be found through the categories. What can be found are some private sellers selling goods from the same companies that are also in my shop, in large quantities. Thanks to saved taxes and fees, they can even offer them at the same sales prices with free shipping. I’m going to look for my rose-colored glasses now. Maybe I can use them to spot the advantages.

Best regards

Ute

Thanks for letting us know about your observation here, @carino-koeln! We’re currently tracking a number of active community topics around search result sorting, but the issue is much more complex than it may seem to you.

I’ll take your post with me and get back to you here once the review of your listings has been completed.

Update 16:08: I’ve taken a closer look in the meantime and cannot confirm your claims. If I use 256136269265 as an example, I find the item in category search at position 4 with just 2 set filters and a few clicks.

Your impressions and page views are also increasing again this month. You probably know our recommended methods for increasing sales: sending price suggestions to potential buyers, offering eBay Plus as a seller, optimizing item titles, images and item specifics, and using additional options to increase the discoverability of listings. Nevertheless, we will pass along your criticism accordingly.

Anyone who sells on eBay is always advised to comply with their legal obligations in order to avoid consequences.

Best regards

Miriam

hajumark

·3 years ago

View listings

Today I relisted an item on another account (not “relisted” or anything like that).
Somehow the whole form felt new to me; I’m guessing I got the quick-listing tool forced on me.
Anyway, I uploaded pictures, wrote the description, and set Buy It Now.
Below that it said: “More options”. Since that was enough for me, I didn’t look any further.

After I had finished the item, I noticed that in the overview of current listings for this item, the best offer option seemed to be active.
But I couldn’t remember having turned it on.
So I went to edit it and then found the activated BO under the other options.
And apparently eBay just casually enters 50% of the BIN value here on its own.
What on earth makes you think it’s okay to activate and add something without being asked?
It wasn’t the automatic bid acceptance, but that still isn’t acceptable. Opt-in, not opt-out, is the magic word.

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@hajumark wrote:

Today I relisted an item on another account (not “relisted” or anything like that).
The whole form somehow felt new to me; I suspect I was treated to the quick listing tool.
In any case, I uploaded pictures, wrote the description, and set it to Buy It Now.
Below that it still said: “More options.” But since that was enough for me, I didn’t look any further.

After I had finished the item, I noticed that in the overview of current listings for this item, the best offer option was apparently active.
But I couldn’t remember having activated it.
So I went to edit it and then found the activated BO under the additional options.
And apparently eBay just enters 50% of the BIN value here on its own.
How do you get the idea to activate and enter something without being asked?
It wasn’t automatic bid acceptance, but that still isn’t okay. Opt-in, not opt-out, is the magic word.

Hello @hajumark! For Buy It Now listings created with the quick listing tool, the “Best Offer” option is activated by default. Private sellers can deactivate the “Best Offer” option, and there is always the option to decline, accept, or make a counteroffer on a best offer.

I’ll be happy to pass your feedback on internally at the next opportunity, thank you very much for that 👍.

Kind regards

Miriam

petersmodellbahnstuebchen

·3 years ago

View listings

Hi @miriam@ebay

what does "Private sellers can deactivate the "Best Offer" option?

Doesn't that also apply to business sellers?

I personally really like working with offers, but a default setting of 50% only leads to unnecessary email traffic. That's why I set a value in my listings that is significantly lower than 50%.

Best regards

Peter

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@petersmodellbahnstuebchen wrote:

Hi @miriam@ebay

what does "Private sellers can deactivate the "Make an offer" option?

Doesn't that also apply to business sellers?

I personally really like working with offers, but a default setting of 50% just leads to unnecessary email traffic. That's why I've set a value for my listings that is significantly lower than 50%.

Kind regards

Peter

Hello @petersmodellbahnstuebchen! Of course business sellers can also deactivate the "Make an offer" option, but we don't recommend it.

If you want to remove the "Make an offer" option from listings, you can do that via the "Manage offers" page. Under "Change settings for offers", you can deactivate the checkbox.

You can also set up rules to automatically decline or accept offers based on a price range you define or a minimum price 🙂.

Kind regards

Miriam

steffi@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

Welcome to the eBay Q&A session! Today, @miriam@ebay and I are here for you again.

de3trader

·3 years ago

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I bought something (#19-10079-40118) that was advertised like this: "Transfer unit is 100 % in order ... Plus a free waste toner container (used, WT-320CL)".

I actually needed both, so I went for it. Unfortunately, that was a total disaster, because:

a) waste toner container was missing
b) the transfer unit was broken, possibly due to the poor packaging

Of course I contacted the seller right away about the missing item, but after the second message I still didn’t get a response. Since the transfer unit didn’t work, I bought both items elsewhere, and sure enough, it worked right away!

Unfortunately, by then a month had already passed, and the seller rejected my return. Stupid, but my own fault: the much-advertised buyer protection only applies for a maximum of 30 days.

Now I’ve written a reasonably negative review, but it was deleted. For 2 days I’ve been trying to find out why.

WHY

- does eBay delete a reasonable review?
- can it supposedly not be restored?
- does eBay protect such bad sellers instead of its customers?

And why can no eBay employee explain this process in a comprehensible way? Instead, they reply with canned responses that, on top of that, aren’t even consistent. What use can a feedback system still have if eBay simply deletes reasonable negative reviews?

The policy at
https://www.ebay.de/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policies?id=4208
doesn’t say anything about that, in any case.

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@de3trader wrote:

I had bought something (#19-10079-40118) that was advertised like this: "Transfer unit is 100% in order ... Plus, as a gift, waste toner container (used, WT-320CL)".

I actually needed both, so I went for it. Unfortunately, that was a total disaster, because:

a) waste toner container was missing
b) the transfer unit was broken, possibly due to the poor packaging

Of course I contacted the seller right away about the missing item, but after the second time I still hadn’t received a response. Since the transfer unit didn’t work, I bought both items elsewhere, and lo and behold, it worked right away!

Unfortunately, a month had already passed by then, and the seller refused my return. Stupid, but my own fault: the much-advertised buyer protection applies for a maximum of 30 days.

Now I’ve written a suitably negative review, but it was deleted. For 2 days I’ve been trying to find out why.

WHY

- does eBay delete a legitimate review?
- why supposedly can’t it be restored?
- why does eBay protect such bad sellers instead of its customers?

And why can no eBay employee explain this process in a way that makes sense? Instead, they respond with boilerplate text, which on top of that isn’t even internally consistent. What use can a feedback system still be if eBay simply deletes legitimate negative reviews?

The policy at
https://www.ebay.de/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-policies?id=4208
doesn’t say anything about that, in any case.

Hello @de3trader and thanks for your post! We can understand that it’s frustrating for you that the item can no longer be returned after the buyer protection period has expired. As a rule, we are very strict when it comes to removing feedback and only remove it in exceptional cases.

In many cases, feedback is about constructive input that sellers can use to make the business better and more profitable. After today’s Q&A, we will take another look at the basis for feedback removal in order to possibly arrange some follow-up training.

Nevertheless, I can also confirm that, unfortunately, once deleted, feedback cannot be restored. But please rest assured that we will keep an eye on trading activity and that deleted feedback can still be used in our system for internal assessment.

Best regards

Miriam

de3trader

·3 years ago

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Thanks @miriam@ebay

Oh man, unfortunately that was just the familiar text Lego again 😄

But my substantive question "Why - does ebay delete an appropriate rating?" still hasn’t been answered at all. Did I do something wrong? Is some automation to blame? Or can I infer from the follow-up training that something didn’t go right there? Why at all?

Regarding "cannot be restored": Then you’ll probably have to make a ticket and change that. It can’t be that, in addition to the financial loss, I’m now also deprived of the chance to leave a rating! Because then ALL customers suffer the damage... and that means ebay too.

In any case, I’m looking forward to the feedback on the "basis for the removal of the rating following today’s Q&A session". I’m curious!

Best regards

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@de3trader wrote:

Thanks @miriam@ebay

Oh man, those were just the usual text Lego blocks again 😄

My substantive question, "Why does eBay delete a reasonable rating?" still hasn’t been answered in any way. Did I do something wrong? Is an automated system to blame? Or can I take from the follow-up training that something didn’t go right? Why at all?

Regarding "cannot be restored": Then you’ll probably have to open a ticket and change that. It can’t be that, on top of the financial loss, I’m also deprived of the ability to leave a rating! Then ALL customers suffer the damage... and that includes eBay.

In any case, I’m looking forward to the feedback on the "basis for the removal of the rating following today’s Q&A session". Curious!

Best regards

Hello @de3trader! We have now reviewed the rating carefully, and the reason for the automatic removal is that the return request was allowed to be rejected because the deadline had expired.

Our Seller Protection therefore provides that we protect the other party in such cases from a negative rating.

Everything went correctly here, and this is not a mistake. For the future, we recommend returning the item that differs from the description within the return period and addressing any issues that arise directly after receiving the item. That way we can help you find a satisfactory solution.

Kind regards

Miriam

bootyooty

·3 years ago

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Hi @steffi@ebay and @miriam@ebay 😄

it's about this thread and the question

https://community.ebay.de/t5/Mein-eBay-Konto/ebay-gibt-ohne-Zustimmung-Handy-Nr-an-Verk%C3%A4ufer-in-weiter/m-p/4720956#M30696

why sellers can view their customers' phone numbers, even though it's not a freight delivery.

There's a reason many users don't even put their landline numbers in phone books anymore, so they don't get fake calls and advertising/surveys.

So why can a seller who's a total stranger to me need to know my phone number so that I can even complete the purchase process?

I was really angry the other day... next time I'll ask to cancel the purchase; my phone number should be in the contact details on eBay and only for eBay.

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@bootyooty wrote:

Hey @steffi@ebay and @miriam@ebay 😄

it's about this thread and the question

https://community.ebay.de/t5/Mein-eBay-Konto/ebay-gibt-ohne-Zustimmung-Handy-Nr-an-Verk%C3%A4ufer-in-weiter/m-p/4720956#M30696

what the reason is that sellers can see their customers' phone numbers even though it's not a freight delivery.

Not without reason do many users no longer even list their landline numbers in phone directories so they don't get fake calls and advertising/surveys anymore.

So why can a seller, who is a complete stranger to me, need to know my phone number so that I can even complete the purchase process?

I was really angry the other day... next time I'll ask to cancel the purchase, my phone number should be in the contact details on ebay and only for ebay.

Hello @bootyooty and glad you're taking part in our Q&A today. We are following your exchange regarding the sharing of data, and your critical reactions have been passed on to the relevant teams.

If I can give any further information about this in the future, I will chime in on the thread 👍.

Best regards

Miriam