topic Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes? in Selling

ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Thu, 31 May 2018 23:29:04 GMT

received a message from a potential buyer this morning asking why when i relisted one of my items i raised the price when i relisted it yesterday.

when i try to reply telling him about ebays 'no fees' offer ending and that the increase in price was to cover fees i would be charged if the item sold i get a big warning they believe i'm trying to do a deal without using the ebay checkout system!

i tried wording the reply several times but got the same warning.

i know others have had warnings about stuff in messages but if its just explaining ebay has removed a fee free deal that shouldnt cause a meltdown of the bots.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

digital*ghost — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 00:20:00 GMT

There's quite a few seemingly innocuous word combos that trigger the wrath of the eBay ~~overlords~~ bots. "PayPal" is fine, "invoice" is fine, but "PayPal invoice" is not fine (I guess eBay think if you use the phrase "PayPal invoice", the only thing you could possibly be talking about is sending someone an invoice for an off-eBay sale ).

I wouldn't provide that kind of insight to a potential buyer, though, just speaking personally. At best, a very simple 'to cover an increase in costs' kind of reply would be provided.

Of course, if I could send animated GIFs through eBay messages, I'd be more inclined to say it was so that I could do this, through fields of all the extra money...

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

egglesdtp — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:13:00 GMT

ebay is really going too far with this message blocking business. The other day I tried sending an attachment to a message that was a screenshot of the Aus Post calculated postage cost of an item a buyer had enquired about (very bulky but not all that heavy). Would allow the message through but not the screenshot (so the buyer tells me).

Also its none of the business of the potential buyer questioning why you had raised the price of an item.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:19:20 GMT

as it happens today i got a new offer to list with no fees so i have relisted all my items.

but ebay is becoming over protective if they wont let me explain to a seller why i increased my price on an item. i'm sure thats not why they intended to stop some messages.

so now i have a buyer scratching his head over why when my item failed to sell i relisted at a higher price.

i just messaged him saying if he wants to buy it i'll happily lower the price again which i'll most likely do anyway.

but buyers should know about these fee free listings and that when they end sellers will likely put prices up to cover fees they will now be paying.

i'm sure ebay wont offer no fees forever, sooner or later all my items will need a price rise.

i guess i'll just have to put a notice in the actual listing explaining it.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:23:05 GMT

@egglesdtp wrote:
ebay is really going too far with this message blocking business. The other day I tried sending an attachment to a message that was a screenshot of the Aus Post calculated postage cost of an item a buyer had enquired about (very bulky but not all that heavy). Would allow the message through but not the screenshot (so the buyer tells me).

Also its none of the business of the potential buyer questioning why you had raised the price of an item.

you are correct, a seller can decide the price on an item.

but i have no problem explaining the no fees vs fees difference to a buyer.

just seems ebay does.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:26:33 GMT

over the years ive discussed prices and done deals using the ebay messages many times, never ever done a deal to sell outside ebay.

it just seems to me ebay has recently changed the message bots to reject a lot more content than before, i think they have taken it to far.

to the point where messages with become redundant.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

whiznumber6 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:34:31 GMT

"so now i have a buyer scratching his head over why when my item failed to sell i relisted at a higher price".

Bizarre. Doesn't buy it, complains that it's relisted at a higher price. Should've bought it when it was first listed, ay.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

egglesdtp — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:47:28 GMT

@whiznumber6 wrote:
"so now i have a buyer scratching his head over why when my item failed to sell i relisted at a higher price".

Bizarre. Doesn't buy it, complains that it's relisted at a higher price. Should've bought it when it was first listed, ay.

Totally agree.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

countessalmirena — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 03:00:57 GMT

@digital*ghost wrote:
There's quite a few seemingly innocuous word combos that trigger the wrath of the eBay ~~overlords~~ bots. "PayPal" is fine, "invoice" is fine, but "PayPal invoice" is not fine (I guess eBay think if you use the phrase "PayPal invoice", the only thing you could possibly be talking about is sending someone an invoice for an off-eBay sale ).

Oh lord...

This means having to hand a quick substitution list for commonly used words or phrases that send the bots declaring "Ex-ter-min-ate! Ex-ter-min-ate!"

To start with...

contact / contacted / contacting - be in touch / were in touch / getting in touch
get our phone number - receive our number
call me - be in touch with me
pick-up address - place of pick-up
PayPal invoice - account receivable via PayPal

I agree, too, that it's not a buyer's personal concern about how a seller runs his/her business. "From time to time item prices may change" sort of comment, or your "to cover an increase in costs", would give a polite reply but not provide details that are part of the gears and pulleys of your business's inner workings!

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 07:09:17 GMT

i fully understand that buyers have no rights to know the ins and outs of a sellers reasons for price changes.

but even i if id been watching an item in hope of buying it 'one day' and saw the price go up by $50 between ending a listing and being relisted i would wonder why if i didnt know about ebays fickle finger of fate re fee free listings.

its just annoying i cant just tell the buyer ive raised the price because ebay is now charging me fees.

then the buyer would most likely say to himself "oh, gotcha, thats fair enough"

having previously thought this seller is nuts, he cant sell the thing at X dollars then raises the price by Y dollars!

ebay seem to have included mentions of fees and charges in the "you must not talk about" subjects.

if your just a buyer on ebay you prolly think the seller gets 100% of the sale price, the idea ebay skim a chunk for letting the seller sell on ebay never enters their head.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

imastawka — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 07:15:46 GMT

I know, late to the party............

Personally, I would have ignored the message.

They either want it, or they don't.

Doesn't deserve an answer, or my time.

Do they ask the big brand B & M stores, after their sales, why the cost has gone up?

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davewil1964 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 08:01:19 GMT

All my listings are 30 day, auto-relisting BINs.

I never change my prices to cater for a 'maybe' sale within the period of a reduced or free FVF.

As far as I'm concerned, my base price is competitive and any extra profit I get from reduced fees pays, in part, for the difficulty of dealing with eBay.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

brerrabbit585 — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 09:46:49 GMT

I've currently got the word sale at the start of my titles. Last year when I sold during a similar offer I put in the description "Sale price is for a limited time only".

As far as someone asking about your prices, I would have probably said I'd run a sale for a while and then put them back to normal prices, and never mentioned ebay's fees.

eggles, a lot of buyers don't realise you can't see attached photos through your email messages and that you have to view them through your ebay messages. Maybe that was the reason, maybe it wasn't.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

egglesdtp — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 15:54:38 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:

eggles, a lot of buyers don't realise you can't see attached photos through your email messages and that you have to view them through your ebay messages. Maybe that was the reason, maybe it wasn't.

It was through the ebay message system as I didn't have her personal address, as she hadn't yet bought. Who knows? We eventually got it sorted out.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 03:39:18 GMT

@egglesdtp wrote:
@brerrabbit585 wrote:

eggles, a lot of buyers don't realise you can't see attached photos through your email messages and that you have to view them through your ebay messages. Maybe that was the reason, maybe it wasn't.
It was through the ebay message system as I didn't have her personal address, as she hadn't yet bought. Who knows? We eventually got it sorted out.

That's not what I meant. You can view your ebay messages via ebay or via your email inbox. If you're viewing them via your email inbox they still come through ebay but the attached pictures aren't viewable.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

egglesdtp — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 03:56:43 GMT

I see what you mean.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

purplemon18 — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:57:16 GMT

Yes. They most certainly do ask me in my B&M store why the price went up.

Mind you I work in a retail chain with over 100 branches, so I don't know what makes them think a staff member on the shop floor would have anything to do with pricing decisions.

Basically these people are just really stupid.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

davidc4430 — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 09:01:57 GMT

@purplemon18 wrote:
Yes. They most certainly do ask me in my B&M store why the price went up.

Mind you I work in a retail chain with over 100 branches, so I don't know what makes them think a staff member on the shop floor would have anything to do with pricing decisions.

Basically these people are just really stupid.

what, you dont own the store you work in?

outragous!

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

countessalmirena — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 15:25:30 GMT

You could have a little fun with people asking you about price changes.

CUSTOMER: Excuse me...

PURPLEMON: Yes?

CUSTOMER: I was wondering why the price went up on this wibbly wobbly thingammy.

PURPLEMON: Ah. It was very wise of you to ask me. It was by my order. You see, I performed a special blessing upon that wibbly wobbly thimgammy, a blessing which will insure it has powers beyond your mortal ken. That of course has added to its value, and thus I ordained by special Retail Decree that the price should be increased to account for this special blessing.

Re: ebay messaging, has there been changes?

egglesdtp — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 00:17:25 GMT

@countessalmirena wrote:
You could have a little fun with people asking you about price changes.

CUSTOMER: Excuse me...
PURPLEMON: Yes?
CUSTOMER: I was wondering why the price went up on this wibbly wobbly thingammy.
PURPLEMON: Ah. It was very wise of you to ask me. It was by my order. You see, I performed a special blessing upon that wibbly wobbly thimgammy, a blessing which will insure it has powers beyond your mortal ken. That of course has added to its value, and thus I ordained by special Retail Decree that the price should be increased to account for this special blessing.