I am Sharat Digumarti, Senior Manager in charge of Marketplace Health for eBay India. Under this role, my team is responsible for Enhancing Trust and Safety and Investing in Seller Development on the site
We had met last February where we discussed many topics of interest of both buyers and sellers. I am back to give you some more updates on the Trust and Safety and on Seller Development front. Also, I will be available on June 29th 5-6 PM on this thread for an Open House discussion on the topics.
Trust and Safety Updates:
Enhanced Communication with Buyers in case of dispute – We want to ensure that our buyers who have filed a dispute, do not miss out on Buyer Protection claim. Thus, we have introduced enhanced support for buyers who file a dispute. With the new processes, any buyer filling a dispute will not only be regularly informed on the timelines, but will also be educated on the process to escalate the case for buyer protection claim.
Warranty Policy – In order to bring greater transparency in the warranty being offered in listings and to reduce ambiguity that leads to bad experiences between buyers and sellers, we introduced the Warranty Policy. This will ensure that all buyers are completely aware of the warranty that accompanies the product and thus will make an informed decision. It still early days to see any impact, however I am confident that in the coming week sellers would start abiding to this policy
Reduction in Unpaid Item disputes – I am glad to inform you all that the measures taken to reduce the Un-Paid items have borne good results. We have seen a consistent decline in site wide UPI rate. Some sellers have already reported a decline in their individual UPI rates. I hope all our sellers would have seen the benefit of the same.
Improvement in Seller Non Performance - I am glad to inform that we are doing certain changes in the SNP which would help genuine sellers. I will share more details on this during the open house session.
Seller Retention and Development Program
Business Badshah – The Business Badshah program was initiated to encourage sellers to increase their business. Some sellers have already received the benefit of the program. Most sellers will start seeing the credits in their account by next month. It was great to see an increase in business of many sellers. I hope you are as much proud of your improved performance as are we.
New Seller Support – Based on the feedback we have done some changes to our current program that helps new sellers in building their business on ebay. The changes include the period we proactively reach to new sellers and give guidance across all aspects of successful selling on ebay
Increasing feedback Adoption - Feedback is the cornerstone of the eBay Marketplace. We believe that feedback adoption by most buyers will greatly benefit genuine sellers. I am glad to inform that the various efforts taken over the past few months like, Detailed Seller Rating, Cricket Mania Promotion etc have greatly helped in increasing the number of buyers who are leaving feedback on site.
As I mentioned earlier, I will be present on the Community Boards for an Open House Session on 29th June 2007, 5 – 6 PM. I will encourage you to post your thoughts, comments and suggestion on this thread. I am looking forward towards this meeting and I hope to gather lot of useful feedback from you.
See you on 29th for Open house discussion!
Regards, Sharat Digumarti Senior Manager - Marketplace Health
Thanks for the interaction today. I hope you found some answers to your questions. We shall be closing the thread now and archiving it for future reference. In case you have further questions, please feel free to start a new thread on the topic.
Thanks for your post and raising this question. I request you to please respond to the email you have received and seek confirmation before you send any of your documents.
There is an Indian fax number and also a PO box no where ebay India registered users
Thanks for your post, however I don’t have the answer to your question. My view is slightly different and that the concerns which we have been addressing through various initiatives seem to be improving hence there could be a drop in participation
For the first time in this open house I have received more positive comments and with statements that things have improved
Thanks for your post and I am equally excited to be on the boards again.
As mentioned in my earlier post we will work on an initiate which address the concern and increases the Feedback Adoption and start it within the next couple of months
I will pass your concern around the pincode to my product team to investigate and find a solution
Our product team has been working in getting some of these features and we at eBay are equally anxious to see the results
We have actually done changes in the whole INR process where buyer are now being contact alert calls and as far as possible SMS alerts to both buyer and sellers on the next steps.
The pilot which we did couple of weeks ago have been successful and the process has been rolled out for all disputes which are getting filed
Live Chat has also been included to give guidance and steps to buyers
Thanks for you post and happy to note some improvement in successful sales and reduced unpaid items. We still have some way to go in address these concerns and some of the proposed changes in the buying and payment should help
There are lot of areas which needs attention and improving checks and balances during registration is one of them. One of reasons for the increase in successful sales is also due to certain checks and balances we made in registration and there are few more we need to work and implement
Thanks for bringing to my notice and sharing with the group about the ways some buyers are trying to cheat. We will further investigate and see on this needs to addressed before it becomes a larger issue
Currently we do a have a dedicated and all Power Sellers can use the toll free and share their views/concerns and suggestions.
I will inform the team to call and speak with you so that you can share your experience which we can try and fix
Dear friend, There must be worthy of spending a few minutes to visit our website www.ecorrp.com to make you get much benefit or profit. We are a large wholesale company on internet. All of our products come from original famous manufacturers with complete warranty. the price we can offer you is lower than any other retail dealers on Ebay. Please feel free to contact us if any questions, You will get a satisfactory answer. Contact: MSN : ecorrp@hotmail.com Email : ecorrp@hotmail.com Phone : +(86)010-87986074 Website : http://www.ecorrp.com
I am getting these spam mails from past 6 months. Because of these mails, I am missing few mails to respond the genuine buyers. I can't report each and every mail as it takes a lot of time. --------------- With Regards, Navaneeth (snrama)
Dear veedeedirect Thanks for your post and the points you have raised and let me answer in the same order
1) Yes there are cases where buyers would have not paid and still filed an INR, however when we look at such instances they are far fewer than the number of cases filed where buyers would have paid and not received their product.
2) As mentioned on a separate post the reduction in timeline would help in resolving the dispute. Yes there are situation where buyer not confirm that the issue is resolved, however we review the proof provided by the seller and mark the case as resolved.
In these situations the seller’s recent record helps the person to take the judgment, the case what you mentioned is valid when there is only 1 dispute against the seller and the other record is impeccable
3) Yes I agree and if the dispute is filed after giving the feedback then we would treat the dispute and not consider the feedback . This process has been fixed We are noticing that there are even Power Sellers who have disputes being filed against them hence we cannot say Power Sellers would not be Non Performing Sellers.
To appeal these restrictions I have been asked to fax certain documents to the US.
I am registered on ebay.in I only list on ebay.in. I do not sell with international shipping.
You have an India registered office,
1) Why do I need to send documents to the US?
2) Why the sudden need for documents in the middle of a seller's life?
I have been selling for over a year. Have over a 100 positive ratings with a 00% positive feedback ratio, many more satisfied customers.
I have paid my ebay fees with my credit card and from my bank account online. You already have my credit card information and bank account information.
PaisaPay regullarly sends cheques to my address made out to my Name and Account number.
Why do you need more verification?
If at all verification should be asked when a seller starts selling and not in the middle of a sellers like by first stopping his selling activities when he is at a peak.
Sir, Instead of having this cumbersome process of Disputes INR / SNAD and SNP process, would it not be much simpler for an emerging market to have a Customer Service team which would interact between buyers and seller and give resolution within days rather than to keep disputes pending for months on end.
Dear All In the past there has been lot of feedback and suggestion around the way Seller Non Performance action are taken.
As it is challenging for sellers to get resolution/proof for older cases we are trying to move smaller time frame which is more realistic where sellers who be able to contact buyer or provide necessary proof as a dispute resolution
Earlier this year we mentioned that we would move in the direction to increase seller standards on the site which would reduce bad buyer experiences.
Also when taking action against Seller Non Performance we would adopt restrictions as the first approach instead of suspension which helps sellers to complete the pending transactions and gives the ability to access one’s account for necessary information
We have started this process and in the coming months the transition to the process would be complete
Your SNP module still leaves a lot to be desired. Why does a seller have to face undue harrassment when:
1) Buyer has not paid but still files an INR.
2) Buyer does not bother to close the dispute. Why does the seller have to go after him and have him close the dispute? Or go to ODR and get proof the dispute is closed. ebaY washes it hands of Buyer Protection 90 days from close of auction but seller can be pulled up even 18 months after auction date? Shouldn't a case where buyer is not longer interested be automatically closed?
Even in a court of law when the appellant does not turn up for hearing, the case is thrown out. But in ebaY, the seller has to give proof of the buyer's disinterestedness in pursuing the case and even pay for the same? Doesn't this sound weird even to your ears?
3) Since feedback is an opinion, why do you treat it as a dispute, resolution of which has to been given to TnS. If a buyer has an issue he can always open a dispute.
And more importantly you are still evading this question, how can a PowerSeller be a Non Performing Seller?
By defination a PS is
"As pillars of our community, Power Sellers are committed to upholding and embracing the core values that are the very foundation of eBay. They are exemplary members who are held to the highest standards of professionalism, having achieved and maintained a 98% positive feedback rating and an excellent sales performance record."
How can you term such sellers as Non Performers and make them go through the utterly humiliating SNP process.
Dear soniyadahar, Thanks for your post and noted the suggestion. We have heard this suggestion in the past and the team is working on building a better search functionality.
Regarding the specific suggestion to show total price though it is most desirable, it is not the most user friendly as the most sellers offer shipping costs are based on various parameters, local, national, international, cash on delivery and there are also buyer preference and the cost changes based the location and option hence the system decision may not be helpful for all buyers.
On the books section we will try and see on we can segment Hardbound books and will try and increase the choice of books available on our site
There are couples of concerns raised in your post needs investigation before I can answer. I will ensure we send you a response within the next one week
I agree with you that some of the transactions are not successfully completed and sellers need to complete the Unpaid Item process. We have been significantly working and we have made reasonable progress. I could also see some comments from other members sharing their experiences and noticing an improvement
We have announced about the changes in the buying flow and I am confident that it would improve the number of buyers would pay to increase. Please read this announcement
On Feedback Adoption, I think it is a very valid concern and very soon we would start work on an initiative which will increase the number of ratings being given
Your are right in your assessment that Feedback helps users in building their reputation on the platform and we do come across users trying to manipulate the system and action is taken and ranges it from
• Feedback removal • Loss of PowerSeller status • Account suspension • Listing or Want It Now post cancellation • Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings • Limits placed on account privileges
I will ask the team to check on this particular user and post investigation they would take action as appropriate.
Also most transactions are done by users who are new on ebay and hence at times most sellers have majority of the from buyer who are yet to receive any Feedback.
A warm welcome to today's Open house Session. Today we have Sharat here to answer your questions and have an open discussion on TnS and Seller development topics.
He will be here for an hour. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have in mind.
Thanks for coming back again to discuss the issues. Definitely Safety and Trust team has made lot of safety for sellers and buyers, thanks for your hard work.
Regarding unpaid cased it has been reduced a lot. But in the month of Jan and Feb it was the great period, every sold item was almost paid. But after April it is again increased to 15-20 % unpaid cases. I hope you will take enough measures to cut down the unpaid items.
Regarding registration, some customer really enters dots, commas and register their identity and purchase items and go unpaid. I hope your team can control this kind of anonymous customers in the future. Please authorize every registration after reading the address and contents.
Tricky cheating by buyers
Another thing is same customer comes in different ID. From one ID they purchase and pay. Through another ID they purchase item and just don't pay. Later from the paid ID they go unregistered for some reason(Probably fake credit card purchase). Using another id with the purchased item they threaten the seller that item is not good and they want refund or they threaten saying going to leave negative feedback for the unpaid purchase, if we don't refund them (double way benefit, one side fake credit card purchase and another side refund !!!). I had one terrible case recently and some how i used another trick to escape from the troubling customer finally. When we report these cases the customer support does not understand the trick and never protect the sellers. Please protect us and help us.
There is another fraud case i have experienced recently. I don't want to discuss in group. Because other it is a bad example for other buyers too. How to report this kind of confidential cases. Most of the customer support staff does not understand the importance of the case and they write unwanted things and we are helpless. We need dedicated help from eBay by skilled staff, at least for PowerSellers.
Its pleasure to see you again at Open House Discussion. I have seen a lot of improvements like the eBay Top Menu Look, My World, Detailed
Seller Ratings, Warranty Policy etc..
Regarding the Reduction in Unpaid Item disputes, I have also seen a decline compared to previous month sales. Once "Immediate Payment
required" is out, it will be an extension for the reduction of UPI.
Business Badshah: A nice contest. But I personally think that no one should be disappointed with the prizes. At least an award certificate of
appreciation should be given to all participation. This will be a good encouragement to sellers.
Feedback: There are buyers who ignore the feedbacks. Sellers suffer a lot with this as each point is very important. Especially newbies. The
Cricket Mania Promotion was good, we need such good promotions again.
PaisaPay: I am happy that "Immediate Payment required" will be available soon. But PaisaPay also needs to accept more payment methods and its
right time now. Other Shopping Sites does offering some more gateways which are still unavailable with PaisaPay.
"Shipping Validation based on buyer Pin Code", "Locate Seller Contact Information easily" will be a cool feature once its up.
But I don't think "Fast Checkout for ‘Buy it Now’ Listings" is a good move. Just hoping that it will help both buyers and sellers by introducing it.
I have one query and it didn't get solved yet. My pin code is 560079 and the area is Basaveshwaranagar and city is Bangalore. The problem is eBay shows as it as UTTARAHALLI, KARNATAKA and charges National Courier to local/Bangalorean buyers. I don't want my buyers to pay more. Kindly fix this problem. --------------- With Regards, Navaneeth (snrama)
Is this open house only for India based eBay members or can anyone join in? We're based in Thailand, which as you know only has a portal page rather than an active website, so being able to learn from other markets is essential to us.
I am not sure if this is the right platform i am posting for this problem. Maybe readers may find it a bit difficult, but many a times we are in search of some value deal products as i just shop on ebay for getting products cheap rather than buying from the local marketplace. So i use the lowest price first option, whats cumbersome here is an item with Rs.1000 and free shipping comes in quite late and an item for Rs600 and Rs900 as shipping comes early, so i am making a loss in this case, as i have understood this i need to browse through a lot of pages and this is troublesome. So why not query the search on basis of final price including the shipping and postage. Thats easier too. And hopes it helps in unpaid items as i bid considering the mp3 player is for 999 and then after bidding i realise 999 is extra for postage. Moreover, when i am browsing for books, i need hard bound books and not ebooks, so i was utterly disappointed when all i could find in books section was ebooks. You should realize that many Indians like to read books during travel in flights, trains, etc and so ebooks are of little use to me. They may sell like hotcakes, but have a different sub category for them so i dont waste my time. Expecting a reply from you and a good return on the time i invested in writing this. Regards, Soniya
I am old ebay member but just started selling recently. I am selling mainly Ladies Lingeries and some electronics accessories too.
I am facing few problems and there are some issues which i would like to bring to your attention, may be same shud be for some other sellers too.
1. I am selling lingeries, so many items i sell its shown on some model, and sometimes i get alert and listing gets deleted may be due to picture having some minor exposure.
2. But recently i got an alert and all of my listings were deleted, they were nearly 15-20 of them. At that same time there was one ipod accessory which was sold and paid by buyer thru paisa pay. Now since that item was deleted, paisa pay hold the payment. I contacted paisapay team and they replied they will come back in 2-3 days, but the payment was only released after more than 12 days, after contacting you by email and live chat.
3. Now another major problem in my ebay it shows i am selling 18 items, but in search it only shows 8 items that means nearly 10 items are not showing up in search, which i just realised recently...i had been relisting the item again and again and keep on paying ebay fees. I have send email to ebay and did live chat, but still this issue is not resolved... no one is telling clearly why the item is not showing up in search. They informed there will be some word in my listing which may be the cause of listing not showing up in search. Now how would i know which word it is ? there are hundreds of words in listing... in most of my listing i use similar words and even sellers of similar items use similar words. Hence we need your guidance to know exact cause of problem. Selling item on ebay makes money for both of us and not only for seller.
4. Also another important issue which needs your attention and improvement is many buyers clicks on BUY button but then doesnt pay. By clickin on buy button means item sold and then ebay charges for final value fees immediately, but buyer doesnt pay us, and most of the time we cannot contact buyer as there is no phone number mentioned and only email id, and most of the time they dont respond to email. then we have to open dispute say after one week of waiting period and then have to wait another one week to close the dispute and get credit for final value fees. This not only wastes time, but also wastes efforts and money and affects business.
5. Also many buyers done know about ebay ratings/stars and they dont leave feedback. See if something can be improved from your side on this. As we all know how important is ebay ratings.
I hope something is done to address my problems.
Wish you good luck and looking forward to see ebay growing by leaps and bounds in india as it is in other western countries.
hello respected people, i am new to ebay but a compulsive online shopper , going through your site , i understood feedback is very important part for seller. at the same time i see rampant mainpulations in new sllers gaining feedbacks through sister concerns which is easily spottable by a new user like me i got this seller on main page http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110136432819 the feedbacks can easily be spotted as ramped up is this fair ?
hi sharat.... i want to sell my 4 paintings... i tried selling it on ebay but its still not sold.... wat m i suppose to do... i want to sell it at any cost... m in need of money ... hope u can help me out... bye
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