Posts Tagged ‘eBay help’

Dear eBay Queen:

While I was on Thanksgiving Break at my daughter’s house, I received a bizarre email from eBay.  The email is below, and it is telling me I have a Buyer Protection case from March of 2010! What the heck is going on?

Notice: Your buyer tried to open a case. Please contact the buyer.

Dear (removed),

A buyer tried to open an eBay Buyer Protection case because the item hasn’t arrived yet. It was too soon to open a case, so we asked the buyer to contact you. If you haven’t already heard from the buyer, we recommend you get in touch with the buyer. Most issues can be worked out through email or a simple phone call.

BUYER            ID ITEM #                  LISTING TITLE CASE            ATTEMPT DATE

(removed)       270510656244                         Loving Family Doll Set                            2010-03-03

By working directly with the buyer, you’ll be able to provide good customer service, and may be able to avoid a case being opened.
Here are some ways to help avoid a case for an item not received:

• Ship with tracking (and signature confirmation for items $250 and above) and upload the tracking information right away.
• Print your shipping label on eBay or PayPal. Tracking information is automatically uploaded for you and your buyer.
• Ship within your stated handling time.
• If there’s a shipping delay, let the buyer know.

You can view a list of best practices for successful selling.

Thanks,
eBay

Please don’t reply to this email. It was sent from a mailbox that doesn’t accept incoming messages. If you have questions, please contact us.

What does this mean?  At first I thought it was a phishing email, then I checked my archives, I really did have a Loving Family Doll Set with that eBay number.  It sold, and I received positive feedback for it.  What is going on?

Amy T; Wichita, KS

Dear Amy:

I did a little checking, and there seems to have been a technical issue with eBay Resolution emails between November 17^th and November 22^nd.  Based upon the eBay boards and mailing lists I am on, there are quite a few people that have received the same kind of emails.  To be on the safe side, I would go to the eBay Resolution center just to make sure that your case mentioned above falls into eBay latest technical issue they are having.  http://resolutioncenter.ebay.com/

Dear eBay Queen:

I buy a lot of things on eBay, mostly on Buy It Now with Best Offer.  Best Offer makes me feel like I’m getting a deal while I’m spending money.  Today I received this notification from eBay while I was placing an offer.

“This is your third and last chance to make a best offer for this item. Improve your chances by setting a fair price. You have placed the maximum amount of offers allowed for this listing and cannot make another at this time. You may still Buy It Now, or wait 30 days before making another offer.”

Seriously, eBay? This is how you increase sales? Buyers can only make 3 offers and then they are shut out for 30 days unless they pay full price?  These rules have got to be made by people who know nothing about retail or eBay!

I was just about to buy some movie tickets, as I did last year when they were offering double eBay bucks. The price was $127. I offered $90, then $100, then $110. I’m guessing the next one would have done the trick. Oh well, my seller loses, I lose and so does eBay. Brilliant people who went to college, but never worked in a store!

Paige Fry

Dear Paige:

Thanks for sharing that with me!  I would say 75% of my items on eBay are Buy it Now with Best Offers.  I’ve never knew that there a warning given to buyers like that.

I think the best thing to do would be to save that little blurb and email it to the seller on your last or third offer.  If the seller realized that this was the last time in 30 days they would receive an offer from you, they might take it.

 Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 190605941442 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page. Do you like Christmas? Do you like to decorate your torso in Christmas?  Check out this Christine Foley Size SM Christmas Sweater Ornament! SOLD $287.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

My wife and I are buyers (11 years), not sellers.  Recently, I tried to purchase some automotive parts thru eBay Motors, using “Buy it Now”.  I found 2 clear instances of “bait and switch” by 1 seller and another instance from a 2^nd seller.

They listed merchandise that I wanted to buy.  Each listing gave the number of available items for sale, and each listing had at least 2 more days to run.  When I sent an email, asking them to confirm the fitment, the listings were pulled early and these sellers told me that the merchandise was no longer available.  They most kindly offered me alternatives that were substantially more expensive.   All communications were via eBay’s email links.  The time span for each of these email sequences was 1 or 2 hours – not days.  I saved all my emails thinking that eBay’s customer support would be interested in these cases of possible seller misbehavior.  I had difficulty finding email links to report the incidents.  (I prefer email to the telephone because I am hard of hearing and sometimes telephone conversations are not satisfactory.)  I did find email links to eBay Motors and to eBay Customer Support, but these email  tools were forms, so all they requested were  listing numbers.  There was no way that I could tell them that they needed to review my email history for each listing.  It has been several weeks with no follow-up.   I assume that eBay and eBay Motors have no interest in pursuing buyer complaints against sellers.  I am concerned about how well eBay monitors its sellers and how well it looks after its buyers.

As a footnote, I did find a 4^th seller who had the merchandise that he listed and who performed his end of the bargain very promptly.  He was a true “5 star seller” in all respects.

Dave  Sutherland

Dear Dave:

I’m glad that you found a good seller whose merchandise was exactly what you needed and most importantly exactly as they described.  What you describe is odd. In this particular situation, the best thing to do would be call eBay.  I understand that you are uncomfortable doing that, but it would be your best option and get the quickest results.

Another option would be contact eBay through their messaging system (not email).  To do this, follow these instructions:

1. Go to: http://ocs.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ContactCS
2. Mouse over “Selling” then click on “Turbo Lister”
3. To the right you’ll see “Chat with us.”  This is an online chat form.

Once you “log on” with someone, let them know you are uncomfortable talking on the phone, and you know that you are not in the right area for your question, but you did not know what else to do.  They will get someone that will help you with your problem.  If that doesn’t work, I would email griff@eBay.com .

I’m sorry that two sellers were less than honest with you, but so happy you found the right one.

Dear eBay Queen:

I lost my Top Rated Seller status, and I have no idea why.  I figured out how to call eBay, and I talked to them about it.  The eBay representative told me to look at my “performance standards” to see when the Detailed Seller Ratings with 1’s or 2’s would fall off. I wrote it down, but I can’t figure out for the life of me how to do it.  Could you help me?

S.P.

Dear S.P.

I think it’s a little tricky to find the performance standards page myself!  Here’s how to do it:

1. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?SellerDashboard
2. Under your DSR ratings, you’ll see “performance standards.” click on it.
3. Choose the tab labeled “daily performance”
4. Scroll down to the bottom and click on “view 12 month trending data”
5. A screen will pop up, and you can either choose “by percentage” or “by count”, this will make it easier to narrow down who, or when your low DSR’s have been left.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220870022893 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.  Have you ever wondered how much a President’s signature is worth? Check out this Bush Family Cookbook, Signed George & Barbara Bush SOLD $190.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been trying to figure out when the best time was to list boutique children’s clothing. I’ve done quite a bit of research, and I thought I would share it with you and your readers.

I notice that even though I searched best match, the top listings were for items ending within an hour or so. Therefore you want your listings to end on days and the best time of day when the most people are on eBay. You would not believe how many people don’t realize this. There are so many people that are working on their auction listings at ten o’clock in the evening and just launch it then. That way, the auction ends 3, to 10 days later at that exact time.

You need to be careful about what time you list things.  For instance, if you live in Kansas, and list something at 8:00am that is 9:00am on the East coast and 6:00am on the West coast.  How many people do you think are on eBay at that time? There are nowhere near as many as later in the day or evening, but still some.

I’ve done quite a bit of research, and here’s what I came up with.

• Mondays seem like an excellent day to have your items list. There are lots of people surfing eBay at work. After the weekend they need their “eBay fix.” Monday is statistically the best day to end an auction-especially in the early evening. (3-6PM) Pacific Time.
• Tuesdays are the worst days in my opinion.  According to my statistics and that of TeraPeak and Hammer Tap, Tuesday’s receives the lowest number of bids on eBay.
• Wednesdays are fair and not quite as bad as Tuesday.
• Thursday seems to be about the same as Wednesday
• Friday: I like Fridays as long as it’s before 5:00 PM (Pacific).
• Saturdays aren’t the best days for me.
• Sundays are excellent, with the evening being the best time for items to end.

Different types of people shop at different times. I try not to have anything end during popular television shows, because my sales are affected negatively then.  I hope my eBay OCD has helped someone out!

OCD Oscar; Oklahoma

Dear Oscar:

I usually list auctions on Sunday evenings and Monday afternoons.  When it comes to fixed price, I list whenever I can, as the item is on for 30days, and is not affected by listing times.

Thank you for sharing your listing time secrets with us!

Dear eBay Queen:

I wanted your help selling a pair of brand new unused boots on the eBay auction site. I recently signed up on the eBay website and I am now ready to start selling my first item on eBay.

I have a pair of brand new pair of safety boots. These boots were ordered last week and just got here a couple of days ago. The boots are 1 size larger, so they don’t really fit me. The boots are Super Safety Boots – Size 10. Selling price is $300.

How do I word it in the eBay description page? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Josh

Dear Josh:

I did a little checking on your boots, and I didn’t find any with the brand name “Super Safety”, but I did find 214 boots currently on eBay with the term “Super Safety”.   If this were my item, I would make sure to include the brand name, if they have one.

I am going to assume, since the price of these boots is in the $300.00 range, these are Danner Boots.  For a title, I would do something like this: “New Men’s Danner Super Safety Black Work Boots sz 10.”  My description would be something like this:

Up for auction is a brand new pair of men’s Danner Super Safety Black work boots.  Brand new never worn.  I ordered these and they came in the wrong size.  My loss is your gain.

• Color
• Boot name (from the manufacture)
• What’s it made of? Leather, vinyl?
• Men’s Size 10
• Man Made?
• New in the Box or just new
• Retail price: (?)
• Measurements from heel to toe on the bottom of the boot
•  Does it have a steel toe?
•  How much you are charging for shipping, OR how much the item weighs.

Good luck with your boots!

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220870022893 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.  Do you remember your first Halloween Costume? Do you still have it? Check out this 1966 Ben Cooper Marvel Ironman Halloween Costume MIB Iron Man SOLD $500.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com