- This topic has 18 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 8 months ago by
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Announce functionality changes of each software release *before* the release and in more detail. For example, instead of the vague “In states where eBay is required to collect Internet Sales Tax from buyers, order totals sent for processing will reflect the gross order amount inclusive of tax” coming out on the exact day that the new software goes live, put out an announcement a week beforehand that says:
“On Nov 4th, you will see the following changes
1) In each PayPal transaction, you will see the Sales Tax listed, and the sales tax will be included as part of the PP fee calculation”. If you use ebay Managed Payments, the sales tax will/will not be included in the transaction fee calculation.
2)
3)
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This issue is pretty prickly. As a seller, its a real problem when eBay makes fundamental changes that affect our bottom line.
So now sellers must bear the Paypal costs of the taxes eBay collects? And this wasn’t discussed? Will the new Managed Payments also charge us a fee for these taxes that eBay collects?
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eBay needs a changelog: https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/
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Publish list of issues/bugs that are being worked on with latest status (Jay’s favorite request). These should be large and small issues. For large issues, take the example of the recent new Size item specific debacle. The last update on this topic 2 weeks ago says that they will be copying over the size value from the old item specific to the new item specific. I checked my listings, and that hasn’t happened to my listings yet. So I’m left wondering – are they really doing it? Or did they just link the new Size IS to the old Size IS somehow so that no copying is needed? In other words, what am I supposed to think when I see listings of mine where the copying hasn’t been done? Is it still going to be done or has the plan changed? If the plan has changed, will I have to do the copying myself in the future? If they published an update saying “we are done with the copying” or “we expect all the copying to be done by <date>”, that would be super helpful.
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That’s a tough one because once the rules are the place, then bad actors know how to game the system. Its a tough balance.
I would love eBay to be more transparent around age of listing. eBay now requires all listings to be “good till cancelled”. But is there a time period where if the item is unsold that eBay hides the listing?
This is the rumor but no one knows. Just tell sellers when items need to be refreshed.
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Big thing eBay can do to gain seller trust.
STOP MAKING CHANGES DURING 4TH QUARTER.During the most important time of the year when sellers need to be focused on selling and making customers happy, eBay always sneaks in a big site change around October/November. Then sellers are forced to deal with tweaking listings and/or buyers cant find/buy the items.
Obviously changes should be flawless, but eBay’s changes have a bad reputation of going South. Do the developers not test the changes in a sandbox first?
There should be a site freeze come Sept 1. Developers should know that they need to get all their changes done by then.
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From my recent trip to eBay UpFront, I found that they do have a stop to software changes on November 8 (that would have been yesterday). That just isn’t early enough. The summer slump has ended less than two months ago, and sellers are working on getting sales back up and organizing for the busy season. This is not the time to make a software change, especially a big one like item specifics.
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eBay needs a more detailed “Status”page:
https://reddit.statuspage.io/
So when a problem occurs, its easy to see that eBy is aware of the issue and is solving it.Currently eBay uses “announcements” but its often several days late.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
They read as if written by PR people and not developers. The issues are mixed in with :feel good” announcements. Just focus on problems and solutions. All business.Those several days of the site not working properly and no info makes sellers wonder if eBay even knows whats happening. eBay customer reps are likely flooded with calls and they often dont know. Just transparently acknowledge the problem immediately and update sellers on the fix. Stress goes down.
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Another vote for being transparent about how stale listings are treated and what is considered stale by Cassini.
@Mallybills thanks for asking! -
Non-Anchor customer service is abysmal. My confidence in eBay having my back when things go sideways is basically non-existent.
I called to get feedback removed that claimed I didn’t offer returns. I had 30 day free returns enabled and figured I could call up support and have it removed in minutes. Wrong. The CSR told me the buyer was just trying to antagonize me into messaging them because they couldn’t find the “Contact seller” button on the site (????????). I asked to speak to a different rep who ended up giving me the same line. Neither would disclose how they knew this about the buyer and insisted I keep trying to contact them via message, phone, or email to find the “real” reason they were upset.
Here I am bending over backwards to meet all these crazy requirements for TRS for the 1 in 100 chance I have to actually ask for help in return, then when I actually need it, nobody has my back. What’s the incentive to do all this extra work, then?
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Just to summarize what people have said so far, the general areas where seller trust is lacking is in software changes, transparency on policy, site status, and other planned changes, and customer service.
The good things that eBay is working on right now are the new seller help page and improvements to seller protection including consideration of a seller’s past performance.
I would add that eBay should have a better link to their policies. When I’ve had a question regarding policy, I’ve had to search my question on Google to get the appropriate link within the eBay site.
I’d also like to see a chat function for help. Almost every decent size website has chat. It is sometimes more convenient than calling plus you get a “in-writing” log of your discussion.
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Hey @Sharyn, eBay does have an all new policy hierarchy and content (as of early October) that should make it more clear. They also improved the policy email that is sent to sellers so it is clear to sellers what policy was violated, why it was a violation, which listing(s) were impacted and what sellers need to do to resolve the issue.
Here is a link to the primary policy page on the online customer service pages –> https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/default/ebay-rules-policies?id=4205&st=12&pos=1&query=eBay%20rules%20and%20policies&intent=policy&context=9056_SELLER
You can drill down from the main page to go into the details of a specific policy. Let me know if this is more helpful than what you’ve seen in the past. If not, what would make it more helpful?
Thanks!
Malinda
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@mallybills – I just tried a few examples, and the correct policy did come up. Perhaps this is an area where eBay has improved lately, or I just didn’t think of a good example. I’ll try to remember to come back to this later if I run into an issue.
I was thinking about something else – I’m not sure whether this would go under seller or buyer experience, because it affects both. eBay has all these item specifics and has been adding more. Sometimes I don’t what to pick because I don’t know different types of styles or time periods or whatever.
A good example would be a women’s dress. Style is a required item specific, but I’m not into fashion and don’t know all the differences. Looking at one of my listings, what is a mermaid or fit & flair dress? I could guess, but I really don’t know. I usually select something simple like a cocktail dress. I don’t want to google each style until I find the correct one. Could eBay have some type of reference to help select the correct answer?
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My BIG issue with trust with ebay:
CSR reps are at best woefully misinformed/equipped to do their jobs and at worst outright liars.Here is a typical call to ebay customer service:
I state my issue. CSR seems to make up something that is not based in any policy they can reference as to why the issue happened. I am told that “notes are being made in the system”. I am told I will be followed up with in 48 hours. Etc, etc.None of this ever happens. There is no followup. When I call back to get an update MAGICALLY there are no “notes”, no case, nothing. I have to go through it all again.
I’ve lost count of the times I have been outright lied to. How about the old false INAD catch 22 scenario? That one got me a few times. I call to ebay for guidance on how to handle a false INAD. Ebay rep tells me that they cannot do anything until I accept the return – tells me I have to accept the return and THEN I can file an appeal. The CSR then “makes a note” in the record. I ask for email confirmation of this and the CSR says they can’t do that. I do what they tell me then call back to speak to the appeals dept. The next rep tells me that because I accepted the return I have waived my ability to appeal. WTF??!?!?!?
I tell that CSR that I was told not 10 minutes prior that I did what I was supposed to IN ORDER to appeal and that they need to check the notes. SURPRISE! There are no notes. I’ve even went as far as telling the CSR’s in some cases to go back and listen to my previous calls to hear the CSR tell me to do certain things or make promises to me.The solution: DOCUMENTATION!!!!!!! I want a summary email of my call of what my issue was, what ebay is going to do, and when it should be done. I want a case number I can reference when I call back to cut through all the BS, or better yet I want a direct email I can communicate directly about that issue with someone who is working on it.
This is how Amazon Customer support works. Everything is transparent and documented in emails.
Ebay for business on Facebook is the only customer service I feel actually follows through with anything. People have figured that out now and they are woefully overwhelmed now though.
I avoided these posts because I knew they would just dredge up the anger and disdain I have for ebay customer service and I was right.
If you desire further reading, here is my worst documented CS experience:
That one there is the one that broke the camel’s back.
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Agreed. eBay is a huge companies with tens of thousands of customers and sellers they must deal with. The front line customer service reps are really no better than just a human FAQ. They can just answer simple questions, but dont seem empowered to actual solve issues. Their goal is to just say “maybe” or “lets see” and then get off the phone. The hope is the problem goes away or the seller just gives up.
I dont envy eBay with all these questions and issues. You’d need a staff of 500? at any one time who were super knowledgeable and super-empowered to properly solve all issues.
The Facebook group is probably run by a couple people in CA or Utah who do their best to solve issues as they come up. None of us really know. eBay really is a black box.
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