For those worried about declining sales - another problem discovered.

[allfixelectrical]

For some time we have been complaining to ebay about problems with our online merchant facility which uses PayFlow as the payment gateway to accept credit cards in our ebay checkout.

Recently we have discovered that there is a disturbing number of transactions that are taking place for which there is no record on ebay of the transaction taking place at all.

Initially we had complained about several unpaid transactions for which we had discovered that an attempt had been made to pay by credit card through our merchant facility but instead of any payment capture occuring, only an authorisation had been approved.

When we realised this was happening, we have discovered that we were able to manually capture the funds using our PayPal Manager account or our PayPal account itself.

In a few cases buyers had already given up trying to pay by credit card and had sent a PayPal payment instead. In that case we had to manually void their attempted credit card payment so as to return the funds to their available card balance even though we had not received those funds into our account.

In other cases before we were aware of the problem the item simply went unpaid and we ended up filing unpaid item disputes to recover ebay fees and subsequently blocking the buyer.

More recently, however, we have noticed an alarming number of transactions for which full details of the buyers name & address, item number attempted to be purchased, and other relevent details were showing in our PayPal Manager reports along with an approved authorisation without any funds capture, but no actual transaction had been recorded by ebay in our account at all.

Most of these transactions were lost because the buyers had since moved on and purchased elsewhere but we did salvage one that had only just occurred by contacting the buyer via ebay messages and they confirmed that they had tried to make a purchase but had experienced problems.

In that case all we had to do was manually capture their funds and send the item to the name and address details recorded by our merchant payment gateway after confirming those details with the buyer. In this case ebay did not get any fees for the transaction because no transaction was ever recorded by ebay. Obviously no feedback was possible either to us or the buyer.

The most recent case was even more strange because we received a payment via paypal direct for an ebay transaction which again there was no record of at all in either our account or the buyers account.

The buyer had contacted ebay and after spending most of the day on the phone to ebay customer service getting the runaround, finally ebay sent us a message alerting us to the transaction and asking us to process it as they could see payment had been made. We also then contacted ebay to find out what was going on due to the fact that there was no ebay record of the transaction and while they acknowledged the problem could not initially guarantee that if we refunded the paypal payment we would not still receive a defect from ebay even though there was no transaction as far as their records showed. After a lot of trouble we finally got an email from ebay confirming that no defect would be received.

The buyer by this stage had contacted us via ebay messages asking for a refund because they were well and truly fed up with the problems caused by ebay. We then refunded their payment so no sale was made as they had gone elsewhere to purchase the item they required.

The upshot of all of this is that we have discovered 8 transactions since the start of September totalling nearly $1000 that have gone pear shaped due to ebay's incompetence and defective system.

At the very least if items are offered for sale and someone wishes to purchase them then the last thing that should prevent that sale from completing is faults on ebay in the transaction reporting and payment processes.

If we have lost that many sales in 1-1/2 months then how many other sellers may have lost potential purchases that have not been recorded by ebay or any payment taking place?

Non-paying buyers are bad enough but what hope have we got if the transaction is invisible?

Ebay's response to this was predictable and instead of admitting they have a problem, they blamed PayPal instead. Unfortunately that excuse does not hold any credance because if it had been PayPal's fault and funds had been taken but no return from PayPal to ebay then all that would have happened would be an unpaid transaction recorded in our account and a payment in PayPal not allocated to it automatically. In the most recent case in question there is no record whatsoever on ebay that the transaction ever took place except for the details passed to PayPal at checkout time just like the many others we have discovered in our merchant credit card account without completed payment.

[mbselections00]

One always figured there would be issues arise with the split, but that is unbelievable and could so easily be missed.

Instead of responding with a load of crock - we no longer have any insight into their site issues. We cannot force PayPal to resend the payment data, I would have thought they would be taking urgent steps, based on the information you supplied, to resolve the issue with PayPal, regardless of where the problem lies. 

Do they not have any regard for, responsibility or duty to sellers paying Store Fees etc and I am totally surprised, if for no other reason, they didn't investigate further as they would be losing a lot in FVFees.

[allfixelectrical]

I don't think the problem is with PayPal at all. By the time someone is sent to PayPal or a credit card gateway from checkout, the ebay transaction has already taken place and the worst that should happen at that point is that payment does not take place or is not recorded.
Eithr way an unpaid transaction should still appear in the seller's ebay account and the buyer should have details of the transaction taking place but no payment having ben made or recorded.
We have already established by talking to PayFlow support that the reason credit card payments come through and are authorised but not captured is because of incorrect or incomplete API details supplied from ebay.
Unfortunately unlike API's sent from a personal website where they are customisable, we have no control over the details or content sent from ebay checkout
In the past that usually did result in an unpaid item or the buyer arranged to pay by other methods or they contacted us to say payment had been made.
This more recent manifestation where the ebay details are not recorded in either the seller's or the buyer's acounts just compounds the problem.
What hope have we got?

[mbselections00]

Dare I say, none - we're at their mercy . . . . . . .

[knewdoors]

you are not kidding about "declining sales" ..lights go on lights go off..all of sudden sales..then no days, no sales..weird..we are down at least 60% compared to last year..shrugs..just got to hang in..we guess..just wish there was a viable, similar alternative..apart from own website etc..gumtree..etc etc..wish E-Bay was "sherlocked" like how Apple & other companies have undercut may "Exclusive" ideas and companies..ie: tom tom v Google / apple maps..skype v phonce calls..digital photography v kodak film etc..it would cause us no distress to see E-bay get its comeuppance in a similar fashion..maybe one day a start-up will offer a much better experience...

[*tippy*toes*]

I knew my sales were slow, but didn't realise how slow until I got my last fee invoices. The invoices were about 1/4 of what they normally are. The last few days something has happened because I've had quite a few sales. I don't expect it will last though. I'm not a big seller by any stretch of the imagination, but I find after a free listing promotion when my active listings go over 100, my sales seem to increase.

Hopefully with Christmas just around the corner things will pick up for everyone.