EcommerceBytes Soundoff: Letters to the Editor

In every issue, readers soundoff about issues important to them. From shipping to payment services, from fees to online marketplace policies, EcommerceBytes Soundoff gives you a chance to air your views.

Send your letter to the editor by emailing ina@auctionbytes.com with "Letters to the Editor" in the subject line. (Remember to include your name as you would like it to appear.)

Visit the Letters to the Editor blog, here are links to letters published from June 3, 2012, to present:

This is What Needs to Be Fixed on eBay - June 16, 2012

eBay Raises Bar Too High for Top Rated Seller Eligibility - June 14, 2012

Global Market Lost to eBay.com Adult Listings - June 14, 2012

eBay Seller Fights Computer-Generated Policy-Violation Report - June 12, 2012

eBay Shipping Label Glitch Could Affect TRS Status - June 11, 2012

eBay Lets Deadbeat Buyer Open Claim against Seller - June 11, 2012

PayPal Updates Policy for American Express Refunds - June 11, 2012

Quick Shipper Dinged on eBay DSRs - June 10, 2012

Canadian eBay Buyer Can't Communicate with US Sellers - June 10, 2012

Should Disgruntled Buyers Leave Low Ratings for eBay Sellers? - June 6, 2012

Sellers Are Dumping Inventory on eBay - June 6, 2012

Is eBay Encouraging Single vs Multi-Quantity Purchases? - June 5, 2012

eBay Glitch Stymies Sellers Trying to Keep TRS Status - June 4, 2012

How Sellers Should Respond to Unsolicited Requests - June 3, 2012

Ina,
I am a bookseller on eBay and Half.com. The new top rated seller requirements have a major flaw for booksellers on both venues. The transactions from both venues are added together, yet only eBay transactions count as compliant transactions, resulting in low ratings for me and anyone else selling books on both venues.

I am in 100% compliance with respect to the new guidelines, yet because of this count from both venues, I am nowhere near the top rating. I have spent about 7 hours with customer service, and they just indicate that the dashboard committee is aware of this. I am not confident that it will be resolved and that I will get my 20% discount and boost in searches for the 6/20/12 evaluations since my dashboard now indicates this top rated status is "at risk".

I am sure this will affect hundreds of booksellers who use both venues to list their books. As a bookseller, I have spent a great deal of time complying with their rules and regulations and have always maintained a top-rated status but now my ratings are in jeopardy since ebay seems to think this is just a small glitch in their big system and not worth pursuing with any sort of expediency.
Guy

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Hi Ina,
I list a LOT of shoes and used or NWT sportswear etc. Every once in a while I find something at a thrift store etc that is a higher end item than usual. A few weeks ago I came across an estate sale and snagged a pair of GUCCI loafers. I researched them and they retail for about $500+.

I have no reason to doubt that these are indeed Gucci. And its not like I have 100 pairs of these listed - among the Coaches and Tiffanys! Nope I have ONE pair obviously with a non-professional pic attached. And I wrote my own description - no cut-n-paste from the Gucci website here.

For a few weeks - well months really - my sales have been dismal (like a lot of sellers I suspect conspiracy here.) So I was very disappointed when these did not sell or even attract many looks. But I persevered and relisted.

This weekend my sales suddenly skyrocketed. YAY!!! So I decided to RE-LIST these shoes. I got a Message From Ebay that I was BLOCKED from listing these - and that I MIGHT be able to RE-LIST them - in 21 DAYS.

I was furious - no matter WHAT I did - change category, wording etc I could NOT get this to budge. Now could have just moved it to my other ebay acct. OR I could have just made it as a new listing and see what happened. But I decided to call and ASK why I was suddenly BLOCKED.

Got the usual Filipino CSR and got told that this was for the - sitting down??? - "Safety of ebay Sellers". Ummm - really? How are "sellers" safer if I DON'T list something to - sell?

Then I was told that I had "Hit my limit in this category". Of SHOES? I asked. Welllll - not-exactly. Of "Luxury goods" was the closest I could get him to admit. And oh I was a VALUED EBAY SELLER so he might consider "Allowing me" to list these. Just this once!

I did have a rather lengthy discussion about the "safety" of eBay and the absurd nature of their shutting legit sellers down when anyone with a few brain cells can STILL "Find The Fake" out there amount the "Designer Style" etc listings. I also made mention of the fact that eBay slams sellers who are Not Chinese Mega Sellers with VERO if we DARE to list. He seemed a bit taken aback by my mention of this.

Anyways - I have heard of this but now I have seen it with mine own eyes and it is an ugly sight.

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Hi Ina,
Many of we Ebay sellers are suddenly finding many of our buyers have become "slow pays" or NO pays. To make it even stranger- these buyers have great feedback- such as "Fast pay!", "Great buyer", etc.

This seems rather odd - especially coming on the heels of Ebay's recent survey, questioning if we think sellers should require "Immediate Payment" in our auctions?? Could Ebay possibly be behind this? A little"'nudging" (maybe by inside buyers) to convince us that immediate payment is necessary?

Immediate payment requirements would mean fewer final value fees refunded to sellers. by Ebay. Personally, I don't think Ebay should be charging sellers final value fees on sale price (as well as on shipping) BEFORE the buyer PAYS? They are taking a portion of something sellers have not collected yet. Is this right? And then...if the buyer doesn't pay at all - it's up to the seller to file a non-payment claim, and then wait DAYS before we can close the claim and receive our fees back. There's just something wrong about this.

Another somewhat "shady" Ebay policy, is when a seller gives a buyer a refund - and there is no place in the resolution center - for this particular situation. In order to request a refund of the final value fees, sellers must CALL Ebay in order to be refunded.

Currently, we have only two choices...."I sold an item but buyer has not paid" or "Buyer and seller agree to end this transaction".....Shouldn't there be another choice? "Seller has refunded buyer"?? How many millions of sellers have refunded their buyers and DIDN'T get a final value fee refund?

When we sell an item and Ebay immediately takes the final value fees AND the buyer doesn't pay- the seller is forced to wait at LEAST 4 days before filing a non-payment report and THEN give the buyer 4 or 5 MORE days to respond? In the meanwhile, seller receives no money for their item- cannot re-list the item and Ebay hangs onto those final value fees collecting interest? May not sound like much- but multiply that situation by MILLIONS of final value fees being held by Ebay. There IS a method to this madness.

Soooo....Requiring Immediate payments from our buyers could be VERY beneficial to Ebay. So, again I wonder...could Ebay be behind the slow-pays and no-pays? In my eleven years I've have VERY few non-payers, and most buyers pay immediately or the next day- Since Ebay's survey (regarding Immediate Payment requirements) this has changed drastically. Why?

I just don't think it's right for Ebay to grab a portion of our selling and shipping money BEFORE we receive a payment? Not even sure this is legal.
Betty

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Good Morning Ina,
Thought this one definitely justified being brought to the attention of you and your readers!

Apparently delivery confirmation is no longer enough proof for PayPal in cases where the buyer claims non-delivery. I have X'd out certain key details (obviously) and would prefer that this be posted under our ID and not any actual names.

Below is the copy of the email we received from PayPal on a buyer claimed case of non-delivery. PayPal has had the delivery confirmation on this order/transaction (we automatically upload it on every order) from the beginning.

In this particular case, the delivery confirmation shows that the package was mis-routed and then delivered on the 16th of May but the buyer is still claiming non-receipt. What is also interesting is that the buyer filed the non-receipt "claim" the day that the package was scanned as delivered to the buyer.

Paypal has had this claim for 3 weeks now (it was opened on the 16th of May). Now, it's too early in the day yet to call Paypal on this, but we will be doing so. Mind you that this is over a whole $19 transaction which Paypal pulled from our account back on the 16th.

I highlighted and italicized the key phrase from the letter where they indicate that delivery confirmation is not sufficient information (the online tracking clearly shows that the package was delivered). Now, apparently, you have to be able to PROVE where you shipped the package to. So now, it seems that we need scans or photos of every label we send out???

What irritates the he** out of me is that Paypal knows damn well that the USPS does not show the delivery address. Also if you read into the second paragraph describing what is acceptable evidence, it seems that the evidence must clearly show acceptance by the USPS (which online tracking does) but this must also be AFTER the USPS has accepted the package.

So now, we have to take all of our packages down to the USPS, have them scan them in while we're standing in line, and then what - take a picture of the happy postal worker holding up each one of our packages????

I realize that there's a bit of sarcasm in the above, but how can one not be sarcastic?

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Proof of Shipment Needed within the Next 72 Hours
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Dear XXX,
We are investigating the following claim:

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Transaction Details
-----------------------------------

Buyer's name: XXX
Buyer's email: XXX
Transaction ID: 2Yxxxxxxx

Transaction date: Apr XX, 2012
Transaction amount: $19.00 USD
Your transaction ID: xxxxxxxxxxx
Case number: PP-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

At this time, we cannot confirm your shipment was delivered to the buyer's address. To help us complete our investigation and possibly decide this case in your favor, we need proof of shipment clearly showing the address where the package was shipped.

Please keep in mind that proof of shipment is documentation or online verification from your shipping company showing a status of shipped, the shipping date, the address to which the package was sent, and official acceptance from the shipping company (for example, a postmark). Proof of shipment doesn't have to be available online. The most commonly accepted proof of shipment is a copy of your shipping label that shows the postmark.

You can either upload your information via your PayPal account or fax it to us.

Here's how to upload your shipping information:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
   2 Click "Resolution Center" near the top of the page.
   3 Find your case under "Resolution Center cases", then click "Resolve" next to the request for documentation.
   4 Click "Add" under "Supporting Documents".
   5 Click "Browse" to find the file you want to send, then click "Open".
   6 Enter a title for the file. (The title shouldn't include more than 3 numbers).
   7 Select the type of evidence, then click "Upload File".
   8 Attach any other files, then click "Send Files".

If you fax your information, please send it to:
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Please also include a fax cover sheet that includes the email address registered on your PayPal account and this claim ID number:
PP-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

We must receive your proof of shipment within the next 72 hours or we may close your case in the buyer's favor and issue a full refund from your PayPal account.

Please contact us at (xxx) xxx-2000 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Xxxxxx
PayPal

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Ina,
How soon before a fed up seller from Ebay starts a competitor to Ebay?
I know there is Etsy etc. but none close to Ebay.
I've had it w Ebay!
Disgusted seller