There's an old expression about bureaucracy: "you can't fight city hall." When it comes to customer service in 2024, it may be apt to say, "you can't fight AI." 

A seller wrote to us and said that after eBay refunded a buyer from her bank account for a case of buyer's remorse, she contacted the company. "When talking to eBay staff, they said they aren't the ones doing the refund," and they told her there was nothing they could do about it - because AI had made the decision about the claim.

The seller explained that the buyer had sent her a message ... Read More

We've seen three reports in April from eBay buyers who said that in order to leave feedback for sellers, they must first rate the product they purchased. One person discussing the issue speculated it could be part of a test - and possibly isolated to the media category.

On April 14, an eBay buyer said they were forced to "rate the product" before being able to leave feedback for the seller. "Unfortunately, it seems to be mandatory. I have no issue with rating the seller, but do not appreciate being forced to rate the product." The Read More

Sellers are getting notices today that eBay cancelled orders due to what it vaguely called a "systems issue" (and in a tweet as a "technical issue" and a "technical hiccup"). Those who received the message are confused and upset not only because eBay cancelled the orders, but because of the lack of information about the reason and whether eBay used its own funds to issue the refunds, or whether it was coming out of sellers' pockets.

In one thread on the eBay discussion boards, a seller said they had gotten the message about eBay refunding the buyer and wondered, ... Read More

eBay buyers and sellers are reporting a glitch that changes their shipping address when using the eBay app. An eBay moderator acknowledged the issue on Thursday after a seller reported the issue on the eBay discussion boards.

In the thread, a seller reported on Wednesday: "Overnight the app is updating and it is changing my shipping address to my home address. I do not operate my business from my home and this only started happening over the past few days. Others have suggested turning off location services or deleting the app entirely and working strictly from the desktop."

Critically, the problem ... Read More

Even as some marketplaces have begun reducing selling fees or even shifted fees from sellers to buyers, eBay is doing what is, in effect, the opposite. It sent an email to sellers on Wednesday, April 17, informing them it would be passing along shipping discounts it currently offers sellers to buyers instead.

The new policy impacts only sellers who use Calculated Shipping, and eBay said sellers who use Calculated Shipping can opt out of the new policy, which goes into effect on May 15, 2024.

eBay's email to sellers on Wednesday read as follows: