"unknown error" again? UX as confusing as ever? / Will the feedback get through here? | Suggestions and Feedback on the eBay Platform

honigmars · 2025-09-07T01:08:19.370000Z

Now I was all enthusiastic, 30 years of eBay, I'd been out of it for ages,ebay has now become politically correct, works closely with the authorities,taxes, customs and, of course, the sales commission, you can no longer just get around that now (like back in the day X), and money laundering is no longer a thing either ..Communication and the purchase process are now tightly structured and fully monitored,at that point I thought, well, everything will finally run smoothly through the platform ......... ......and then reality caught up with me ^_^So I dug the best thing I had for ebay out of the box: Pokémon Base Charizard 1st Edition Holo collectible card (just like back in the day 🙂unfortunately with a crease and signs of wear, so it won't be a new e-car -.-Wow, all the properties of a Pokémon card were automatically queried and every possible condition can be fully set in database-compliant fashion,the item description has become unnecessary.Unfortunately I hadn't thought through the Buy It Now option enoughand a handful of "best price" requests and about 30 minutes later the listing was history again, there was surely more to be had there, but congrats: sold to the USA !!!Paid too, only unfortunately still not available, you know how it is now.So far so good, but now the fun's over.So once again, in no time at all, I've hit the limit of what's possible, that's just how I am,only the tough make it into the garden ^^ "Print shipping label"? - doesn't help, ebay unfortunately can't offer any available options.Now you have to get yourself nicely limber again and twist yourself multiple times around all sorts of ornate corners, then you can find the hidden option "Print packing slip" on the order details page.So far, so good. That's at least somewhat useful now, unfortunately not complete.For customs, the details country of manufacture and HTS code (-> Harmonized Tariff System) (possibly weight) are still missing.But you don't know that at that point yet.Of course you find all sorts of more or less current incomplete hints online and on ebay, which only makes the confusion even bigger at first,but this community info page (from an unknown Ebay employee thx :=) is ultimately the "non plus ultra"/ must-have! And right there under "learn more" you also get even more info 👍 namely as a detailed how-to on what comes next 👍 👍 👍 In summary:Please also link such important and useful information directly where it belongs and where it's easy to see, e.g. on the "Print shipping label" page, which in my USA case has turned into an "unknown error" (no way forward). And ideally the insert sheet should also be accessible there via link, which in the ideal ideal case should be expandable with additional information such as country of manufacture, HTS code, weight. It would be nice if feedback like this could quickly make its way through from here and in the future no inexperienced (private) sellers would have to go through this unnecessarily fiddly self-learning process anymore!Thanks.=== PS: in my "special case" shipping a Pokémon collectible card unexpectedly incurs 60€+ for customs-compliant express parcel shipping + 15€ precharge tax from ebay and the sales commission of 10.50€ has now become a bargain. Not even sure whether customs will fish it out anyway and whether additional customs fees will be charged to the recipient.I also find it less understandable that ebay can't offer a shipping option, but then while I'm supposed to prepay the hypothetical shipping costs, ebay already collects the tax (customs?) fees from the buyer in advance, forcibly and without transparency.It would be nicer if the tax (customs?) fees were presented to the buyer as an option, and could also be charged from the seller (depending on the shipping option), since the fees charged by ebay (flat rate?)are opaque and in practice probably not correct for the circumstances.Are sales tax and customs even the same thing? PPS: after enough pondering I came up with a system for a reasonably safe and reasonably legal(?) non-commercial duty-free transaction of "paper securities" (like Pokémon cards) with insured document shipping by registered mail (+return receipt). Alternatively, you could also force it through as a premium goods shipment as a "gift", but then you'd have to take on more risk with the modest transport insurance, and it would also violate an ebay policy.The legal trick is that I set up a bundle listing for the authorities with a low value in order to declare the goods value low, e.g. the standard insurance for registered mail 20€?The actual transaction is then supposed to be another listing for a shipping-free service option, in order to "upgrade" the bundle listing, although that can be kept secret from the authorities since it should be duty-free due to lacking materiality.For the unlikely case that an official conflict arises (customs intercepts insured registered mail?), only the bundle listing serves as proof of trade and payment. The actual paper value from the (shipping-free) option listing remains secret, but is still recorded in a somewhat official way as an ebay transaction, so that no Ebay fees are bypassed 😉 PPPS: I have now also found the following ebay policy on this, and am therefore aware that the previous suggestion is not beyond dispute, but there simply is no clearly defined boundary in the policy over which there would be anything to argue about (for example bundle listings?)E.g.: I offer three cards from a large pile without bothering to select by type and condition. The additional "option listing" would then be a duty-free service to pick out a specific card from the pile?? PPPPS: theoretically one could regard 'graded' collectible cards as "other marketable securities" and therefore shipping via GSP (Global Shipping Program) from ebay.co.uk would be prohibited under the terms of use there X-D (all the way at the bottom: "prohibited items"🙂However, the term is not mentioned so specifically in all eBay policies.

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