eBay Launches Stricter Rules with No Warning

by: cillianred

@CNYC

Interesting. I think you're right.

Though the message the seller received from eBay telling him he had 3 days to respond and then not giving him those 3 days does murky the waters.  

by: Marie

I must say I'm surprised that some posters see no issue with Ebay dinging this seller for something they ARE NOT doing wrong if you go by the published rules of Ebay.

Some are even talking as if this seller is trying to do something shady or wrong by not having tracking.  There are 1000's [if not more] sellers that sell in categories that it is just too expensive for them.  They can ship for 50 cents or they can ship for $2.61.  That is a HUGE difference.

These sellers aren't doing anything wrong, they just sell stuff that doesn't support the higher shipping rates.  They know they lose the ability to track.  They know they lose the ability to qualify for TRS.  They sell this way because they have chosen to sell this way.  There are millions of listings on Ebay like this.

But IMHO that does not give Ebay the right to do a SECRET "test" that can damage a sellers account without notice or consideration.  And on top of that send the seller misleading and completely incorrect emails to let them know what they need to do per the rules.  If they follow the instruction in the EBAY EMAIL, the seller will get their account damaged.

The mere fact that an INR is filed against a seller that does not use tracking does not mean it is going to be counted against the seller unless you fall victim to Ebay's secret rules.  It starts off as a REQUEST.  During the Request stage you have the flexibility to work with your buyer to a resolution.  It is most likely that sellers in this position would off the buyer a full refund at that point.  Then there is no need to escalate to Ebay so that it dings the seller's account.  But Ebay in their wisdom took that away from the seller without notice.

You may not like the choice some seller make to sell this way, but all that means is it isn't right for you, nothing more.  Most of these people are good, responsible sellers.  If they aren't, their FB and other stats would take care of those.

by: Marie

Well now this is refreshing!!!  Trinton is a CSR with Ebay.  He did some research and talked with people that had control of this issue.  He posted the following on the Ebay thread linked above in the article.

This just goes to show that rare as it is, sometimes Ebay listens.

Here is what he posted:

Over the past couple of months we have been providing some US buyers with faster resolution when certain conditions have been met such as; the buyer is new to eBay, the item not received claim was opened 5 days past the estimated delivery date, no tracking was uploaded and there has been no seller response or communication from the seller to the buyer.

In these cases we closed the case in favor of the buyer 24 hours after it was open to ensure a quality experience.

Our goal is to implement this faster resolution process when the conditions are met, but have suspended any further resolutions under this pilot until all our communications accurately outline the time a seller has to respond to a buyer.

Because the communication we sent to the sellers in the item not received email stated the seller had three business days to respond, we will remove any related case closed without seller resolution defects from sellers who were included in the pilot.

To ensure your buyer is not included in this faster resolution process in the future, always upload tracking and ship the item within your stated handling time. And, if a case is opened, promptly respond. The best practice is to respond within 24 hours.

by: Snapped

How about focusing on providing a ''quality buying experience'' for the ''noise'' who is buying the services eBay offers?  

Bully for eBay.  After considerable 'research', they're correcting a problem that should have never existed in the first place.  

It's like jerry-rigging the wiring, flipping the switch, and only THEN looking at the fire escape plaque to find out where the extinguishers are so to do battle with the flying sparks.  

Yet they'll leave it wired hot.  And promise to remember to hang a warning sign.  Danger here.  Proceed at your own risk.  

by: tomominus

This just happened to me. The seller opened a case for item not received and sure enough the next day I got a message saying that the buyer had asked Ebay to escalate and that they were making a decision. Luckily I was able to quickly refund the buyer and avoid the strike. I feel like they are deliberately trying to knock sellers down to below standard now that they are monetizing it with an additional 4% on final value fees. Here's another fun fact, after 2 years and over 350k in sales with no incident Paypal decided to hold funds for 3 items totaling over $1000. I didn't even realize this till I went to pay my Ebay monthly invoice and realized I was a little short. Heres my question, Ebay said they did not ask for the hold so what if I chose not to do business this way? Whats my obligation to the buyer? My feeling is if after all this I'd rather not proceed with the sale and refund the buyer. Maybe the sounds childish but theres just no reason for the hold. I recently sold an item for $2700, if they decided to hold that it would have been a real problem. Makes me leery to accept Paypal for larger items  

by: FormerEbaySeller

@marie Trinton isn't a CSR. He's part of the community team on the boards, nothing more. And that's according to him.  

by: Truk

Just another reminder on what a horrible company eBay's become

by: Marie

@formerebayseller

CSR = Customer Service Representative

Is he not a CSR on the Ebay boards?

by: beuler

Just had a guy overseas pull this, 8-12 day eta, files inr pp case day 9 on a Sunday. Escalates immediately.cant respond once escalated, pp give deadlines to resolve, but then ignores deadline  over rides that closing in buyers favor...it's just a  ridiculous system.