eBay Sellers Say Update to Mobile App Costs Time

by: amazedndazed

I hate that AP. The first time I ever tried to bid on an item, the time was way off. It is very slow to load. Very unreliable. I have had some other crazy moments with it. Like the night I thought I was selling left & right from the cha chings. It was the same item that kept notifying me over & over again.  

by: FidoMaster

eBay continues to struggle with mobile app development. There's a longstanding issue with "background" photo uploading in Android that keeps getting fixed and rebroken between app updates (see https://goo.gl/aR3Cei for one example - FYI the mobile app is just for n00bz tho)

Meanwhile, eBay continues to self-praise its app development in corporate blog postings, press releases, and friendly media stories.

Also, the mobile apps are so far out of parity with the site at this point that it is a significantly different experience/tool. From the seller side, the changes geared toward maximizing eBay revenues with "features" like "Easy Pricing" (automatically lowering pricing), best offer, and auto-relist (which last time I checked relisted fixed duration listings it 3-8 times in succession if unsold, thereby racking up insertion fees from some sellers).

And, as has been covered by ECB, editing a listing with the mobile app is liable to glitch it or revert it to easy listing features requiring an web edit to fix.

by: Chicago48

Don't use the app.  Use a desktop or laptop computer with Windows 10.

by: mcposty

I use an old version of the app. Gotta sideload it but totally worth it. Ebay cant screw with listings on it

by: toolguy

After 3 years I still don't know how to send a invoice using the eBay mobile app. . .

by: bpm

Toolguy - me too! I know I did send an invoice on the app once, but have never found the facility again; can anyone help?

by: lindysthings

Another thing that's really annoying on the Mobile app, is that  you can't stay signed in on Ebay. Every time I visit the site I have to sign in again.If I am bumping along in the car, I have to attempt typing in my user name and password  about 3 times with the bumpy roads.Great way to miss out on an auction or notification of something in my watched list ending. Just simply unbelievable. If we can't stay signed in how are we to operate on the mobile???

by: eastwestphoto

its MUCH easier to do a listing on a desktop computer! The APP is good for searches and completed item prices, although in the Antiques marketplace a 90 day ( Completed sales)  summation should be defaulted rather than eBay's ridiculous 15 day. Antiques are unique and limited in production, so special rules!  

by: thehosst

You can buy an eBay PHP clone for 20 bucks on Craigslist, Fiverr or ThemeForest, which may actually work much better than the real eBay, at least they don't get 4000000000 tech issue claims as eBay does. Maybe if they stop hiring the cheap, outsourced staff, they can get something finally done.  

by: spooky

I have been using the eBay app for Apple iPad past few years since Auctiva stopped supporting their app. I like it as I can do photos right within the structure of the listing. I make drafts than "finish" them off on my desktop. OK - whatever eBay did to the app they either have useless I/T techs or a bunch of morons. Nothing is improved and much is now terrible. Photos not loading, suggested categories almost always wrong, unable to schedule by minute increments, constantly loosing connection to server. We pay them to create a usable platform and end up with this? It is not simply changes - it is blatant deficiencies.

by: tcpjs

My biggest beef with the mobile app is the lack of any way for a buyer to request a combined invoice for multi-item purchases. On a desktop, the buyer can just load up their cart and click ''Request Total,'' which sends an invoice request to the seller and allows them to adjust the shipping total before payment. On a mobile device, the ''Request Total'' button is absent. So multiple times per day I'm fielding questions like ''how can I get combined shipping'' or ''I have x number of items in my cart, can you send me a combined invoice'' or ''why is my shipping total $100 for something that should only $5 to ship?'' or ''ebay is making me pay shipping with each item, can you refund the overpayment?'' I would say at least half of those potential buyers walk away rather than go through some workaround. Or, they go ahead and overpay, and then request a refund for the difference. Which would be fine, except that ebay charges FVF's on the entire amount paid, and does not refund any portion of those fees when a partial refund is issued for the overpayment amount.

So for all the trouble I have just talking a customer through buying more than one item at a time, I'm not about to attempt using the mobile app to list anything.  

by: FidoMaster

bpm said, ''I did send an invoice on the app once, but have never found the facility again; can anyone help?''

I've seen more than a few complaints about this on @askeBay Twitter support - it cannot be performed as of this writing.  Mind you, the app is updated frequently and the interface and features are subject to change week-to-week.

I did see one suggestion to use the web browser on your mobile device and set it to request the desktop site (as opposed to the mobile site, not the app view):

https://twitter.com/AskeBay/status/1052012102523805696

by: Bill

I used to get around 20% of my sales on mobile and I know because PayPal would send me a monthly report. I have not had a mobile sale since March and from what I understand the "new and improved" APP came out in April so now I know why I have not had any sales since then. another major screw up from eBay and the idiots that run it.

eBay = Dead Man Walking