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Wed Mar 18 2020 20:38:40

eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

By: Ina Steiner

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Today's eBay weekly chat session provides insight into sellers' concerns at a time of great uncertainty due to fallout from the virus outbreak. Some people are pragmatic - they see an opportunity to keep busy preparing and listing stock and ask if eBay will provide seller incentives. "Any thoughts of giving those of us who are stuck at home a thousand free auctions for thirty days," one seller asked.

Others are asking eBay to waive fees and offer enhanced seller protection in the event they fall ill or encounter lock-downs that prevent them from fulfilling orders. 

One anxious seller who is out of work as a result of virus-related policies said they needed their eBay income, ending their heartfelt post with, "I want to continue selling but I also have this terrifying feeling that if the post office suddenly shuts down in my area, it could mean the end of my 21 year selling history. Am I overreacting? Does eBay have my back?"

eBay is offering seller protection for issues due to interruptions from service carriers, as we previously reported. 

One seller asked, "What is the proper procedure to cancel a sale if we get sick or shipping services shut down?"

Another seller asked, "FedEx and UPS have both announced changes to signature requirements for the time being. Will eBay take this into consideration if an INR claim is filed on items over $750?"

One seller suggested eBay offer incentives to buyers, asking the moderator: "Can you suggest an increase in coupons and eBay bucks promos to encourage shoppers during this time?"

Many sellers expressed concern over price gouging of items such as hand sanitizers and toilet paper, and some wondered if their efforts to report violations were working.

One seller asked about the impact of coronavirus on technical staff, to which an eBay moderator responded with, "tech issues, both small and large, are still being worked on." eBay is falling behind in customer service, however, as it announced today.

You can find the full chat session on the community area of the eBay.com website.

Update 3/19/2020: eBay posted an important announcement last evening about seller performance.



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by: lessthanthreerecords This user has validated their user name.

Wed Mar 18 22:37:53 2020

"eBay is falling behind in customer service"

It's tough to blame that on the virus when it started 10 to 15 years ago!

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by: hawk This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 06:05:04 2020

when it gets down to the nitty gritty , ebay will really help no one.

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by: Whatever This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 08:12:02 2020

And metrics? so sales are horrible - do I get penalized at the new 14% FVF when my sales drop? I have worked from home for the last 20 years so this isn't a dramatic change for me except there is NO MONEY coming in. there's a change

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

by: toyman This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 08:38:24 2020

We sell out of production toys and diecast (read: purchased collections). We had this same experience back in '06, before the Great Recession. Our sales, noticeably, dropped for, at the time, no apparent reason. It turned out it was the early edge of the bell curve telling us customers were already belt-tightening.

We are seeing the same thing now, with a very large drop off in sales, over the past few weeks. People are, justly, concerned about their future income and health and ''disposable income'' purchases, like our inventory, are always the first to drop off.

We are just hoping that things don't get out of control (and folks use common sense), so that REALLY bad things, like the USPS being shut down, does not happen.

If everybody gets bored, with no where to go, then online sales MAY boom...which we are in total favor of.
;>)

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

by: spooky This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 09:13:56 2020

new 14% FVF??? did I miss something?

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by: ddigler This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 12:03:28 2020

Ebay is falling behind on customer service. I spit out a mouthful of coffee.

If anything The Philippines is under complete lockdown so chances are if you can somehow get a hold of someone in eBay customer service, it will be someone who has actually used eBay before instead of a chatbot reading a script.

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by: comments This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 17:38:22 2020

I hope they give enough protection. Returns are waaaaaaaaay up because of the economic uncertainty. Some of the buyers have been honest about their difficulties but we have buyers falsely claiming SNAD in some sort of attempt to justify the returns. Sadly though I am sure I will get stuck with the hits.....

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by: epuise This user has validated their user name.

Thu Mar 19 17:45:50 2020

@toyman
BINGO !
back in '06, before the Great Recession. Our sales, noticeably, dropped for, at the time, no apparent reason. It turned out it was the early edge of the bell curve telling us customers were already belt-tightening.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

by: mjr55 This user has validated their user name.

Fri Mar 20 01:44:04 2020

I feel Ebay has been really good about protecting sellers in situation like this.

Now, if you were asking what would happen on Amazon if your metrics went low due to something like this? I'd say you are out of luck most likely....they could care less about the reasons why.

Sorry, Ebay is head and shoulders above Amazon when it comes to protecting sellers in events like this (I'm not saying in all aspects.....because Ebay sucks in a lot of ways, but I feel they are on it here).

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

This user has validated their user name. by: NoMoreEbay

Fri Mar 20 08:50:38 2020

The only thing ebay is going to offer sellers for free are buzz words, defects and threats.  

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

This user has validated their user name. by: toolguy

Fri Mar 20 12:32:52 2020

I posted this on eBay's Facebook:

I'm going to have a problem paying April's bill. Is eBay doing anything to help sellers during these difficult times? ASSISTANCE NEEDED

Let's see if they respond!

PS: eBay customer service is CLOSED to phone calls, only email is being accepted at this time.

What happened to all those home based US customer service reps?

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

This user has validated their user name. by: NoMoreEbay

Fri Mar 20 14:36:19 2020

When this is all over, everyone will know what kind of company ebay is. Even the cheerleaders.

Perminate Link for eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times   eBay Sellers Exhibit Anxiety and Concern in Uncertain Times

by: Opalie This user has validated their user name.

Sat Mar 21 12:34:11 2020

I doubt ebay has ever had home based CS reps. Most are in call centres, whether overseas or in the US.



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