💬 Welcome to the general eBay Q&A session on 28/06/23 at 2:00 PM

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Hello everyone and ❤️ly welcome to the eBay Q&A session with the eBay Community Team.

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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

27 comments

steffi@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

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

@miriam@ebay

and me for all questions related to the eBay Community

@steffi@ebay

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

itec-systems

·3 years ago

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Why do you always have to add a photo for returns due to a defect?

That doesn’t make any sense at all, especially with electrical defects.

For example, if you return a device with a defective speaker. It’s pretty hard to take a photo of that...

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@itec-systems wrote:

Why do you always have to add a photo when returning something because of a defect?

That really makes no sense, especially with electrical defects.

For example, if you return a device with a faulty speaker. It’s hard to take a photo of something like that...

Thanks for the suggestion, @itec-systems! It’s important to us that sellers have as much information as possible so that the issue that has occurred can be resolved quickly. Photos provided can speed up problem resolution in many cases.

Under certain circumstances, a photo does not provide clear proof of the issue that occurred, and that’s okay. For this reason, it is also very important to provide a clear description for all photos that are uploaded 🙂.

Kind regards

Miriam

0152maxmoritz

·3 years ago

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Hello !

At the end of March, I bought 3 used fishing reels that made a good impression during the visual inspection.

Unfortunately, I put the reels aside as spares. I have been using the first reel since mid-June.

After I took the second fishing reel with me to try it out at the water, I had to find out that the line-winding mechanism is defective, and the 3rd reel is too.

4 days ago I informed the seller that 2 of the 3 reels are defective.

The seller told me that the reels were all in order and that he will not accept the complaint after almost 3 months. What can I do now?

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@0152maxmoritz wrote:

Hello !

At the end of March, I bought 3 used fishing reels that made a good impression during the visual inspection.

Unfortunately, I put the reels aside as a backup. I have been using the first reel since mid-June.

After I took the second fishing reel with me to the water to try it out, I had to find that the winding mechanism is defective, and the 3rd reel is as well.

4 days ago I told the seller that 2 of the 3 reels are defective.

The seller told me that all the reels were fine and that he does not accept the complaint after almost 3 months. What can I do now?

Hello @0152maxmoritz and please excuse my delayed reply to you, unfortunately your question slipped through.

Unfortunately, the deadline for eBay Buyer Protection has already expired in your situation, and we hope that a solution can still be found with the seller. Otherwise, we can only recommend that you check received goods more carefully in the future and inform yourself about your options outside of eBay.

Kind regards

Miriam

33snoopy54

·3 years ago

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I have a question about today's announcement of the simplified return process. Who decides whether the automatic approval does not come from a pretextual reason to use free return shipping as a buyer. As a seller, can I still object to that? The costs for Hermes parcel at €5.47 are, for example, disproportionately high in the case of a return of a letter

itec-systems

·3 years ago

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I’d like to add the question: what about returns whose value is over €500?

With Hermes, you only have insurance up to €500!

I sell many devices priced at several thousand euros. I don’t want someone to send them back with Hermes insurance at my risk?

How does eBay even get the idea to decide something like that???

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@itec-systems wrote:

Here I’d like to add the question: what about returns whose value is over €500?

With Hermes, you only have insurance up to €500!

I sell many devices with prices of several thousand euros. I don’t want someone to send them back at my risk with Hermes coverage?

How does eBay even get the idea to decide something like this???

Hello @itec-systems! The option announced today is an additional offer to automate the returns process, not a requirement. When creating or editing a listing, you can also set the return conditions accordingly.

If you cover the return shipping costs, you are still free to choose your shipping carriers. We are working on integrating additional companies.

Best regards

Miriam

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@33snoopy54 wrote:

I have a question about today's announcement of the simplified return process. Who decides whether the automatic approval does not stem from a pretext in order to use the free return shipping as a buyer. Can I still object to that as a seller? The cost for Hermes package 5.47 € is, for example, disproportionately high for a return of a letter

Hello @33snoopy54! The new process is an additional option to handle the return more quickly. Of course, we also do not interfere with the return conditions you have set. Sellers can continue to choose not to automatically accept returns.

However, we would like to encourage you to do so, simply to give your buyers a return process that is standard in the industry.

Automatic acceptance of return requests can be set via the settings for processing returns .

If you have any further questions after the Q&A session, please feel free to contact us here 🙂.

Kind regards

Miriam

rest-fest

·3 years ago

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One last question on my own behalf:
I wanted to sign up for the "Experienced Sellers" (*inside /outside). It says there:
"Your membership request was sent on June 6, 2023."

Am I not experienced enough, or is there no one left to process it?

steffi@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@rest-fest wrote:

One last question for myself:
I wanted to sign up for the "Experienced Sellers" (*inside / outside). It says there:
"Your membership request was sent on June 6, 2023."

Am I not experienced enough, or is there no one left to process it?

Hello @rest-fest, normally you should be able to go directly via the invitation link into the group of the Experienced sellers. I’ll take care of your access right away.

rest-fest

·3 years ago

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@steffi@ebay wrote:
@rest-fest wrote:
One last question on a personal note:
I wanted to sign up for the "Experienced Sellers" (*innen /außen). This is what it says there:
"Your membership request was sent on June 6, 2023."

Am I not experienced enough, or is there no one left to process it?
Hello @rest-fest, normally you should go straight into the group of Experienced Sellers through the invitation link. I'll take care of your access right away.

Thanks @steffi@ebay
Correct, the link was used and sent on June 6 - and that's been it so far `:-)

steffi@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@rest-fest wrote:

@steffi@ebay wrote:

@rest-fest wrote:

One last question for my own sake:
I wanted to sign up for the "Experienced Sellers" (*inside / outside). It says there:
"Your membership request was sent on June 6, 2023."

Am I not experienced enough, or is there no one left to process it?

Hello @rest-fest, normally you should be able to get directly into the group of Experienced Sellers through the invitation link. I'll take care of your access right away.

Thanks @steffi@ebay
Correct, the link was used and submitted on June 6 - and that's been it so far `:-)

As mentioned, it should actually happen automatically via the link, but I have now added you manually. A warm welcome @rest-fest 🤗

rest-fest

·3 years ago

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This was discussed in the commercial forum (sellers) "RISK OF A CEASE-AND-DESIST ORDER if we would follow the action recommendation from eBay support" - unfortunately I can't get the link to work.

Why are defects recorded when:
- the buyer exercises their right of withdrawal
- this is declared to the seller, returns the item or not, and does NOT involve eBay
- the seller refunds the payment in the same way it was received (via eBay). There is no "withdrawal" option available for defect-free status. Or am I overlooking something?

Withdrawals are not bound to any process defined by eBay, but are regulated by law. A lot can be used, but does not have to be used. So what now?

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@rest-fest wrote:

This was discussed in the business forum (sellers) "RISK OF CEASE-AND-DESIST, if we were to follow the action recommendation of eBay Support" - unfortunately I can't get the link to work.

Why does a defect get recorded when:
- the buyer exercises their right of withdrawal
- this is declared to the seller, returned or not, and eBay is NOT involved
- the seller refunds the payment the same way it was received (via eBay). An option "withdrawal" for defect-free status is not available. Or am I missing something?

Withdrawals are not tied to any process defined by eBay, but are regulated by law. A lot can be used, but doesn't have to be. So what now?

Hello @rest-fest! You mean this post here 🙂. Thanks for the reminder that we should once again ask for feedback from you on the points raised in this topic.

In principle, removal of a defect can always be requested, and we're happy to help if you are not at fault for the defect received. Please let me go through the post in the discussion forum again tomorrow in peace so that we can address the specific points in the dialog.

Best regards

Miriam

engelchen12344

·3 years ago

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Hello! I have a question about shipping. Since I regularly get messages from interested buyers about shipping costs, I’d be interested to know whether any changes are expected in the near/far future regarding „uninsured shipping“ (especially BÜWA, small parcels because of the size of some items) or reimbursement in the event of a lost shipment. As a seller, the risk of having to stand behind the transport route and the associated hassle if it (supposedly) doesn’t arrive is definitely too high for me, which is why I only offer insured shipping. As a buyer, however, I wouldn’t mind being able to choose uninsured shipping at my own risk, especially for inexpensive items. Is anything planned in this regard?

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@engelchen12344 wrote:

Hello! I have a question about shipping. Since I’m regularly contacted by interested buyers about shipping costs, I’d like to know whether changes regarding „uninsured shipping“ (especially BÜWA, small parcels because of the size of some items) or reimbursement in case of a shipment being lost are expected in the near / distant future. As a seller, the risk of having to stand behind the transport route and the hassle that comes with it when it (supposedly) doesn’t arrive is definitely too high for me, so I only offer insured shipping. As a buyer, however, I wouldn’t mind being able to choose uninsured shipping at my own risk, especially for inexpensive items. Is anything planned in this regard?

Hello @engelchen12344! No changes are known at this time, and we welcome the greatest possible transparency for all parties when shipping goods. Should our seller protection be adjusted in this respect in the future, we will inform you about it.

Without the option of shipment tracking, we unfortunately cannot verify the delivery of the item, and even if uninsured shipping was chosen by the buyers themselves, a shipping method with tracking is a requirement for eBay seller protection, so you’re doing everything right 🙂.

If you want to ship low-priced items uninsured, you can continue to do so at your own risk and, in exceptional cases (buyers state that they have not received the item), refund directly before eBay is involved. Then there are no defects or follow-up problems either 👍.

Kind regards

Miriam

engelchen12344

·3 years ago

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Ok, thanks for the info! Then I'll continue to play it safe for now, at least until there are maybe some changes in seller/buyer protection. Maybe there'll even be something like a "trivial matters threshold" for low-priced items where the risk for sellers is eliminated. My pain threshold was originally 10 euros, until I got hit. The real damage in that case, though, was the insults I had to take. So, once and never again! Best regards!

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@engelchen12344 wrote:

Ok, thanks for the info! Then I'll keep playing it safe for now, at least until there are maybe some changes in seller/buyer protection. Maybe there'll even be something like a "triviality threshold" someday, meaning for low-priced items where the risk for sellers goes away. My pain threshold was originally 10 euros, until I got hit by it. The real damage in that case, though, was the insults I had to take. So, once and never again! Best regards!

So you're covered in case of doubt, @engelchen12344. Maybe you'd like to consider shipping with Deutsche Post Prio , that could save you costs and you're protected on eBay, provided the recipient address was noted by hand on the proof of purchase.

If eBay were to grant goodwill payouts for items not received that were sent without proof of delivery, the system could quickly be abused from both sides.

Best regards

Miriam

petersmodellbahnstuebchen

·3 years ago

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Hi @steffi@ebay hi @miriam@ebay ,

in the seller cockpit there is an overview with open questions for the seller.

Unfortunately, since recently there’s no longer the option here to mark the questions as answered and remove them from the list again.

This is necessary, for example, when the customer thanks you for the previous answer or when you have already answered 2 questions from the customer with one message.

Clearly missing here is the option either to mark the question as answered or to delete it

Best wishes from the Baltic Sea

Peter

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@petersmodellbahnstuebchen wrote:

Hi @steffi@ebay hi @miriam@ebay ,

In the Seller Cockpit there is an overview with open questions for the seller.

Unfortunately, since recently the option to mark the questions as answered and thus remove them from the list is missing here.

This is necessary, for example, when the customer thanks you for the previous answer or when you have already answered 2 of the customer's questions with one message.

Here the option is clearly missing to either mark the question as answered or delete it

Kind regards from the Baltic Sea

Peter

Hello @petersmodellbahnstuebchen and glad you're with us again today too. Please widen the affected column further, then you'll see the selection menu again, have a look 🙂:

Kind regards

Miriam

petersmodellbahnstuebchen

·3 years ago

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Hi @miriam@ebay

many thanks for the solution 😊 Sometimes it also helps when you shuffle things back and forth a bit.

Best regards, Peter

rest-fest

·3 years ago

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Good day everyone...

Questions about: payment dispute, also in relation to today's business news
(Please allow this as a package of questions)

1. A buyer has (up to) 180 days to open a payment dispute with the payment service provider. Is that still true?

2. I ship with Hermes. Hermes tracking numbers are available for 2 months and can be tracked with Hermes. I comply with all rules for tracked shipping and enter the tracking numbers. The item is/was marked as delivered on time by and on eBay. How am I protected as a seller in a payment dispute after my tracking number is removed from the Hermes system (after 60 days)?

3. eBay items often disappear from the system much earlier than 180 days as well. That also means the tracking data stored by eBay is gone. eBay will soon offer the option to upload text (e.g. the item description) in a payment dispute. I have about 2000 items in my main account, all one-offs (novel booklet bundles). Each item is listed manually and only stored on eBay. If it is gone on eBay, the description and related information are gone too. Without a payment dispute, it won't be needed anymore anyway. How am I protected in a payment dispute if the item itself can no longer even be accessed?

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@rest-fest wrote:

Hello everyone...

Questions about: payment dispute case, also in relation to today's business news
(Please allow this as a bundle of questions)

1. A buyer has (up to) 180 days to open a payment dispute with the payment service provider. Is that still correct?

2. I ship with Hermes. Hermes tracking numbers are available for 2 months and can be tracked with Hermes. I follow all rules for tracked shipping and store the tracking numbers. The item is/was marked as delivered on time by and from eBay. How am I protected as a seller in a payment dispute once my tracking number has been removed from the Hermes system (after 60 days)?

3. eBay items usually disappear from the system much earlier than 180 days as well. This also removes the tracking stored by eBay. eBay will soon offer the option to upload text (e.g. the item description) in a payment dispute. I have about 2000 items in my main account, only one-offs (paperback bundles). Each item is listed by hand and stored only on eBay. Once it is gone from eBay, the description and related information are gone too. Without a payment dispute it is no longer needed anyway. How am I protected in a payment dispute if the item can no longer even be opened?

Hello @rest-fest and thanks for your question! Payment service providers can also report payment disputes after 180 days, and these can remain open for longer than 90 days.

eBay offers sellers the option to dispute or accept a claim, upload documents, provide supporting text and/or issue a refund. The view “Requests and disputes” is available for this in My eBay or in Seller Hub Pro. The information provided is then forwarded; the actual decision on the outcome of a dispute is never made by eBay.

I’ll look into the issue regarding missing tracking information on the tracking website due to the time that has already passed and will add to my answer here again if needed 🙂.

Best regards

Miriam

rest-fest

·3 years ago

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@miriam@ebay wrote:
@rest-fest wrote:
Good day everyone...

Questions about: payment dispute, also in relation to today's commercial news
(Please allow this as a bundled set of questions)

1. A buyer has (up to) 180 days to open a payment dispute with the payment service provider. Is that still true?

2. I ship with Hermes. Hermes tracking numbers are available for 2 months and can be tracked with Hermes. I follow all the rules for tracked shipping and store the tracking numbers. The item is/was marked as delivered on time by and on ebay. How am I protected as a seller in the payment dispute once my tracking number has been removed from the Hermes system (after 60 days)?

3. Ebay items usually often disappear from the system much earlier than 180 days as well. That also means the tracking stored by ebay is gone. Soon, Ebay will offer the option to upload text (e.g. the item description) in a payment dispute. In my main account I have about 2000 items, only unique items (paperback novel bundles). Each item is listed by hand and saved only on ebay. Once it is gone from ebay, the description and related info are gone too. Without a payment dispute, it would no longer be needed anyway. How am I protected in a payment dispute if the item can no longer even be accessed?
Hello @rest-fest and thanks for your question! Payment service providers can still report payment disputes after 180 days, and these can also remain open for longer than 90 days.

eBay gives sellers the option to dispute or accept a claim, upload documents, provide supporting text, and/or issue a refund. For this purpose, the “Requests and disputes” view is available in My eBay or Seller Hub Pro. The information provided is then forwarded; the actual decision on the outcome of a dispute is never made by eBay.

I'll include the issue regarding missing tracking information on the tracking website due to the time that has already passed and will add to my response here again if needed 🙂.

Kind regards
Miriam

Thanks for the answer. I'm in favor of clear rules and answers, so here's a follow-up with a (not real) scenario.

Item sold on February 15, 2023 and delivered on 2/17. That was documented on ebay too.
Payment dispute opened today, let's say. I naturally dispute it.
I have the tracking number: 123456789 from Hermes
Item no longer accessible on ebay, tracking number was uploaded and entered again in the dispute. Tracking number no longer trackable.

Do I keep my money: YES / NO ?

miriam@ebay

Admin3 years ago

Community TeamView listings

@rest-fest wrote:

@miriam@ebay wrote:

@rest-fest wrote:

Hello everyone...

Questions about: payment dispute, also in relation to today’s seller news
(Please allow this as a bundle of questions)

1. A buyer has (up to) 180 days to open a payment dispute with the payment service provider. Is that still correct?

2. I ship with Hermes. Hermes tracking numbers are available for 2 months and can be tracked with Hermes. I follow all the rules for tracked shipping and enter the tracking numbers. The item is/was marked as delivered by and on eBay on time. How am I protected as a seller in a payment dispute once my tracking number has been removed from the Hermes system (after 60 days)?

3. eBay items also usually disappear from the system much earlier than 180 days. That also means the shipment tracking stored by eBay is gone. eBay will soon offer the option to upload text (e.g. the item description) in a payment dispute. In my main account I have about 2000 items, only unique items (novel booklet bundles). Each item is listed by hand and stored only on eBay. Once it’s gone from eBay, the description and related info are gone too. Without a payment dispute, it’s no longer needed anyway. How am I protected in a payment dispute if the item itself can no longer even be accessed?

Hello @rest-fest and thanks for your question! Payment service providers can still report payment disputes after 180 days, and these can also remain open for longer than 90 days.

eBay offers sellers the option to contest or accept a claim, upload documents, provide supporting text, and/or issue a refund. The “Requests and disputes” view in My eBay or Seller Hub Pro is available for this. The information provided is then forwarded; the actual decision on the outcome of a dispute is never made by eBay.

I’m including the issue of missing tracking details on the tracking website due to the time already elapsed and will add to my answer here again if needed 🙂.

Best regards

Miriam

Thanks for the answer. I’m all for clear rules and answers, so here’s a follow-up question with a (non-real) scenario.

Item sold on February 15, 2023 and delivered on 2/17. That was documented on eBay too.
Payment dispute opened today, let’s say. I of course contest it.
I have the tracking number: 123456789 from Hermes
Item no longer accessible on eBay, tracking number was uploaded and entered again in the dispute. Tracking number can no longer be tracked.

Do I keep my money: YES / NO?

Hello @rest-fest! Since in such cases it’s not eBay but the payment service provider that makes the decisions, I’m afraid I can’t answer your made-up example in a general or binding way.

However, I have seen disputes in the past that were filed outside the usual deadline (+180 days) and were deemed invalid; eBay then filed an appeal. If something like this really happens in the future, please bring us in so we can support you as best as possible 🙂.

Best 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.