So I noticed something odd today in my payment confirmations from PayPal for my eBay sales. PayPal offers a “Seller Protection Policy” (SPP) which guarentees transactions provided certain criteria are met with the payment, and sellers obey certain rules in shipping and fulfilling orders. I’ve only ever had to use it a few times to get back money when a buyer filed a chargeback against me that I felt was unfair. But it’s nice to know that it’s there and it provides sellers with a sense of protection.

For a long time, when you receive a payment received notification from PayPal, it would show whether or not the transaction was eligible for the SPP in that email. In the following screen shot, you can see an example of this. Click on the screenshot for a larger, clearer version. There’s a section labeled Seller Protection Policy, next to that it says Eligible, and then below it has a simple summary of the SPP. I’ve blocked out all private information in the following screenshots.

Since May 27th, I have not received a single email that showed that a transaction was eligible. I only just realized this today. In that same spot on the following email, you’ll see that it says Not Eligible next to Seller Protection Policy (again, click for a larger, clearer image):

However, if I go and look at the transaction details page inside PayPal, it shows that the transaction is Eligible. The eligibility status is in the upper right hand corner of the screen shot:

I’ve checked dozens of payments in the last hour, and in every case the email says that a transaction is Not Eligible, and the payment details page says that the transaction is eligible.

This isn’t just confusing, it’s potentially problematic for sellers who may end up in an argument with PayPal about the eligibility of a transaction for the SPP. When a chargeback or reversal is filed on a payment, PayPal removes the SPP section from the transaction details page. The entire entire “Okay to Ship!” section, with the SPP status, address and address status are all removed from the transaction details page when there is a problem with a transaction. I’ve personally seen this multiple times. All of that information is is replaced with the following very brief note:

So, in my case, if I end up with a reversal on any of these transactions, my original payment email is going to tell me that the transaction is Not Eligible for protection, and any information to the contrary will have been stripped out of the transaction page. This is deceptive and unfair to sellers.

One thing I have to note is that I’ve ended up using those original payment emails to prove to PayPal that a transaction is eligible. I’ve done this as recently as last month. I thought for a moment that perhaps there was some limit to the frequency that one could use the SPP, but after checking the official User Agreement for PayPal, not so. Section 11.2 states that, “There is no limit on the number of payments for which you can receive coverage.” So that doesn’t seem to be the case.

It’s also possible this is just a glitch in the system, it certainly wouldn’t be the first one I had seen with PayPal’s notification system.

Regardless of the reason behind this, it’s another reason that PayPal needs to stop removing the SPP status of a payment when there is a chargeback, claim or reversal filed against it. Sellers have the right to know that status.

We finally got our first negative feedback on eBay this morning, it’s been highly traumatic. Tens of thousands of eBay transactions, almost 7,000 feedback received and five years of history without a single negative. And I’ve probably earned a few over the years that were never left. We try to treat our customers with respect and take care of them to the best of our abilities, but as anyone in business knows, you can’t make everyone happy. Still, I’ve been very proud of our streak and what it says about how we take care of our customers. Especially in this era, when sellers can no longer leave negative feedback, so there’s no fear of retaliation by buyers.

Still, it makes me a little sad on the inside to not see that 100 percent perfect next to our username anymore.

With ProStore’s 9.0 update earlier this year allowing truly synced inventory between eBay and a ProStore’s retail website, the potential of the host is finally meeting reality. We’ve used ProStores to host our retail website CKC Computers (www.ckccomp.com) for a little over two years. For those who don’t know, we deal exclusively in laptop parts and accessories, mostly Dell, Toshiba and IBM/Lenovo (though we occasionally have parts for Acer and Compaq models too). I’ve questioned the logic many times of using a company owned by eBay to host my site, thinking that branching further out and escaping the eBay umbrella for more of our business would be a good idea. I originally chose ProStores because of the promise of sharing data between my website and eBay, but have never been impressed with the features available. Until now.

Previously, you could send inventory from ProStores to eBay or retrieve eBay listings for you store, but inventory management still required manually updating. And the system didn’t allow for inventory to be live on both sites. So, if you sent an item from ProStores to eBay, the inventory count for that item would be reduced by the amount you listed on eBay. If you wanted the same inventory live for both, you had to correct it after the fact. Then, if any items sold, you had to manage inventory for both channels, manually tracking and updating inventory counts for each item. If you made revisions to the description or title to add additional information or fix minor errors, you had to make changes to both. With Product Sync and Multi-Channel Inventory, all of that is taken care of now. When you list an item on eBay, an exact copy of the listing is created in your ProStores site. Further, multiple fields in ProStores are synced to the eBay listing and updated whenever a change is made to the original eBay listing:

• Product name/title
• Brief description (I’m assuming this syncs to sub-titles, but haven’t used it yet)
• Item description
• Sale price
• Shipping settings
• Inventory

If you have an eBay store and have defined your own unique Store Categories, the category that an item has been placed in will also be sent to ProStores when an item is listed. This field isn’t synced though, so any future changes won’t be sent over. The only complaint I have about this feature is it only seems to send over one of the store categories. In eBay, you can set two categories per item. It would be nice if both were copied to the ProStores site.

These updates have radically changed how valuable our ProStores site is to us. We deal in about 400-500 unique items, but usually only have 1-3 of each in stock. Previously, I had two separate product description designs, one for eBay and one for ProStores. The eBay design was created very early on and included all of our eBay policies, links to various eBay resources, links to other eBay product we had, our PowerSeller status, etc. So it was highly eBay centric. When I created the website, I clearly didn’t want a bunch of eBay stuff in my product descriptions, so I made a much simpler, more elegant template for product descriptions. Having the two separate templates, in hindsight, was a bad idea. It meant that for each new item I listed, I had to create two new entries. With time always being limited, the result was that all items went to eBay and only a handful went to the website, the ones that I believed had the best chance to sell.

Now, for the first time since we opened, our full inventory is available both through eBay and on the website. We’ve been live for about a month and sales have dramatically increased on the website. Besides sales, the updates have also saved us time. I no longer need to spend as much time per week managing the inventory for each system. I manage one, and all my work gets copied to the other. eBay still generates more sales for us, but this gives me hope that with further refinement, our retail site will one day meet and exceed our eBay sales.

Since this spring, I’ve received several coupons from eBay, ranging from $5 off shipping up to 10 percent off one purchase (up to $100 off). I think I’ve received a total of 6 coupons, give or take one. I’ve had problems getting two of them two work, both of them were 10 percent off ones.

I have no idea if my two experiences are wide spread or fairly isolated. If anyone else has had experience using eBay coupons, let me know in the comments section

The problem here is eBay’s advertising versus its implementation of coupons. eBay issues coupons through email, mailers and advertisements on the site. But, PayPal actually redeems the coupons. The coupons are not tied to your eBay account, they are tied to your PayPal account. In the case of my first problem using one, a coupon was sent to both of my eBay accounts. However, because both accounts are tied to the same PayPal account, only one of the codes was technically valid. At the time, the language included with the coupon certainly did not reflect this and eBay still hasn’t clarified the language in the newest batch of coupons. Here is the full text of the coupon I saw this week (actual code omitted):

10% off*—save up to $100

Please note:
Make sure the email address on your eBay account is also on your PayPal account.
Find out how.

Who’s eligible?
Only invited, registered eBay users who receive the coupon by email from us or see the coupon in My eBay are eligible. Sorry, no forwarding—the coupon is not transferable See terms and conditions below.

Here’s how to redeem this offer:
1. Start shopping on eBay. Be sure the seller accepts PayPal.
2. Pay for your item with PayPal before the expiration date (October 30, 2008). Make sure the email address on your eBay account is also on your PayPal account. Find out how.)
3. Enter the redemption code: ********
*Terms and Conditions:
The offer will expire at 11:59:59 PM PT on October 30, 2008. Receive 10% off (maximum discount of $100) the purchase price (excluding shipping, handling, and taxes) of a single item on eBay.com. Recipients of the coupon must be registered eBay members and pay for the item with PayPal.

The coupon is non-transferable, void where prohibited, not redeemable for cash, for one-time use only, and has no face value. The coupon is subject to U.S. laws and cannot be combined with any other coupon. eBay reserves the right to cancel, amend, or revoke the coupon at any time. Use of automated devices or programs to redeem the coupon is prohibited.

Purchases made through any customized checkout system and/or eBay Live Auctions are excluded.

You’ll note that while it notes multiple times that you must pay with PayPal and that the email address must match, it does not state that the coupon is only valid once per PayPal account. It’s not uncommon for eBay users to have multiple accounts and eBay knows this.

Earlier this week, I signed into my personal eBay account and an ad popped up on the main page advertising the above coupon and linking to the page with the full details. I didn’t need the coupon that day, but saved it, knowing I had a couple of days to use it. Today, I bought an item, went to use the code, and it came back as invalid. Grrrr. In this case, it appears that the advert shouldn’t have popped up for me at all. The coupons were sent to a random batch of customers, of whom I was not one, but for some reason the ad for it popped up on my account, even though I wasn’t eligible to use it.

If you have a problem, the natural inclination is to call eBay, who issued the coupon, at which time you will learn that the customer service reps, while friendly and sympathetic, actually have no power to assist you. In both cases, the eBay reps had to transfer me to PayPal, where I got to tell my story again. Also in both cases, the PayPal rep said the coupon couldn’t be activated for me, but that they would credit back the 10 percent to my account after I paid for the item.

Positive feedback for eBay and PayPal for how their customer service reps handled this situation.

I greatly appreciate the fact that the customer service reps for both eBay and PayPal were friendly and did all within their power to help me. I also appreciate the coupons eBay is sending out. But, if coupons are to be a long term part of the eBay experience, they need to get the process functioning flawlessly. In both of the problems I had, I bought items valued at about $300 solely because I had a coupon. Because you can’t test a coupon until after you’ve commited to buy something, you’re on the hook if the coupon fails for any reason, even one out of your control. eBay is very clear about this on their coupon help page:

If you buy or win an item, you’re required to purchase it even if you can’t use the coupon you intended for that purchase. If that’s not possible, you can contact the seller by clicking the seller’s user ID on the item page.

Negative feedback for the poor and potentially costly implementation of coupons.

These issues with coupons are very close to being a “bait and switch” kind of problem because of the structure of eBay’s business. I bought something because eBay advertised a particular price on the item by offering me a coupon. Then, once I had already committed to buy the item, I learned I had to pay a higher price. If I could have easily backed out of today’s purchase after discovering the coupon wouldn’t work, I would have. But to do that, I would have had to contact the seller and ask them to cancel the sale, always an iffy situation.

I want eBay to continue this program, but only if they can get their implementation in line with their advertising. I’ll be very leery to use any more coupons and will be tempted to call support to verify eligibility prior to big purchases in the future.

Awhile back, I posted on joining the Upromise program.

To update, I am still very happy with the program and would highly recommend it to anyone who is saving for college or trying to pay down student loans. It’s been about nine months since I joined. In that time, I’ve picked up $204 in rewards towards my Sallie Mae college loan, though I would tend to think that I buy more stuff online than most people because of my business.

The bulk of the rewards comes from two sources: eBay and eRewards. eBay offers 1 percent rewards for every purchase. We buy a lot of our business supplies through eBay venders rather than traditional suppliers. As example, we buy packing tape, static bags, some boxes, packing supplies, office supplies, general equipment, and more. Since I already bought these items on eBay, it fit right in without any disruption to my normal habits.

I was highly skeptical of eRewards when I signed up. I just didn’t buy into the whole “take surveys, earn money” line. But, I figured if they had partnered with Sallie Mae, I would give them a shot. I might spend an hour a month taking surveys, quite often taking them as I’m working on other tasks on my computer. I’ve managed to get $50 worth of credit to my Upromise account through eRewards during the nine months I’ve been signed up.

I’ve also picked up rewards from Newegg (the best place in the world for desktop computer parts), Office Max, our local grocery store and our favorite local BBQ joint, Biggs.

The best, and most consistent, way to use the program is still to install the browser toolbar. Otherwise, you have to go to the Upromise site, log in, find the store you want to shop at, then finally click on a link to the store to make sure you get your rewards. It’s a pain. Sadly, while a better option, the toolbar is still annoying. It briefly routes you through the Upromise site every time you visit a site that gives rewards. It delays loading the desired site by maybe a second. Sometimes, if you open a page on a rewards giving site in a new tab, the re-routing kicks in again and dumps you off at the stores main page. Annoying. But, still better than having to manually go through the Upromise site. I still suggest running two browsers, one for you daily use and one for shopping. I run dual instances of Firefox (which I finally learned how to do a few months ago).

At the pace I’ve been earning rewards, I figure I will have earned the equivalent of three extra payments by the end of the year. I can’t stress enough that I think I buy more online than the average person, but I still think the program can be good for anyone trying to pay down a Sallie Mae student loan. Even earning one extra payment a year for a few years could shave serious money off your student loans.

eBay Australia is hosting several Q&A meetings with eBay users to discuss the new policy. According to APCmag.com, an eBay executive dropped this gem on the crowd when asked why sellers couldn’t offer choices to their buyers:

We’re not allowing people to offer unsafe choices, just like in this democracy you can’t go out and buy heroin on the streets. – Simon Smith, Regional VP for eBay Australia

Classy.

Today’s 10 cent list fee special is sponsored by Monster. So, apparently eBay is encouraging you to look for a job on Monster. I guess that makes sense if eBay’s news policies are driving you off the site. This seems like a really odd marketing partnership for a site that has long billed itself as a way to escape having a normal job.

eBay is dropping ValueClick’s Commission Junction as the manager of the affiliate programs for eBay’s auctions and Half.com sites. Monday’s announcement came as the Federal Trade Commission announced ValueClick would pay a record $2.9m to settle charges it engaged deceptive advertising and failed to secure sensitive customer data.

About 100,000 eBay and Half.com affiliates will be required to migrate away from ValueClick’s Commission Junction by May 1. ValueClick has managed the affiliate programs since 2001. For now, eBay will continue to use Commission Junction to manage programs for properties including StubHub, ProStores, eBay Stores and Tradera AB, but it left the door open to drop ValueClick on those sites as well.

To state the obvious, this does not bode well for ValueClick. You can read eBay’s official press release for more details. The program, eBay Partner Network, will launch on April 1.

By loading the auction into our browsers, with Javascript and Flash enabled, AuctionBytes was able to see the private information for our account on a separate website page set up by Falle-Internet.de. The information included IP, Name, address, eBay User ID, email address, Bank Routing number, the last 4 digits of our bank account number, the last four numbers of our credit card, and the credit card expiration date. The page also showed auctions that were being watched, as well as saved searches and favorite sellers.

eBay, of course, said they had tools in place to stop such activity…which didn’t stop Falle-Internet.de from proving that the exploit works with a live auction.

Updated: This afternoon eBay put up a post on the Systems Announcements board that the restructuring of some categories was resulting in not everything being displayed correctly:

Some items affected by last night’s category updates have not been moved to their new categories yet, which is affecting how these items appear when browsing.

We are working on resolving this as soon as possible.

As of 9 p.m. tonight, it’s still not showing as resolved, though Search did seem to be working better this afternoon. You can review the category changes here.

Thanks to Ina Steiner over at AuctionBytes for pointing out the official update by eBay.

Original Post:

Heads up, eBay search doesn’t seem to be working properly this morning. I search for the same items every week (some to cross check my selling prices, others to buy). This morning, eBay showed far fewer listings than is normal.

But, I re-did the same searches again about 30 minutes later and they are now returning two to three times as many listings as they were previously. These aren’t items that were just listed either, some of the “new” auctions in the second search end in just a few hours. As an example, you can see some screen captures of my search for “Tecra 8200″ in Laptops (first search is the top image, second is at the bottom). I used the same search criteria: Ending Soonest, Location US Only, and US Dollars only. The first time, I got one auction for a driver cd. The second time, I got four auctions. Two of those end later today and none of them could have been listed in the time between the two searches (if you click on the images, you’ll be able to see a larger picture with the time left). This pattern was repeated across every single search I made this morning.

I used the Tecra 8200 search as an example because I could fit all the listings in one shot. For another item, it jumped from 29 to 82 listings in that same half-hour.

Click for larger image (where time is visible).